Table 1.

Select characteristics of work-related asthma by gender — California, Massachusetts, Michigan, and New Jersey, 1993–2008.

	Total		Females		Males

Characteristics	n	%	n	%	n	%	p Value^a
Total	8237	100.0	4973	100.0	3264	100.0
State
California	4638	56.3	2945	59.2	1693	51.9	<0.0001
Massachusetts	787	9.6	502	10.1	285	8.7	0.0396
Michigan	2341	28.4	1265	25.4	1076	33.0	<0.0001
New Jersey	471	5.7	261	5.3	210	6.4	0.023
Reporting Source
Healthcare professional report	5788	70.3	3470	69.8	2318	71.0	0.228
Hospital data^b	1257	15.3	706	14.2	551	16.9	0.001
Workers’ compensation	1083	13.2	738	14.8	345	10.6	<0.0001
Co-worker	17	0.2	11	0.2	6	0.2	0.715
Poison control centers	66	0.8	37	0.7	29	0.9	0.472
Other^c	26	0.3	11	0.2	15	0.5	0.059
Work-Related Asthma Classification
Work-aggravated asthma^d	1654	20.1	1213	24.4	441	13.5	<0.0001
New-onset asthma^e	4229	51.3	2386	48.0	1843	56.5	<0.0001
Occupational asthma	3620	43.9	2061	41.5	1559	47.8	0.002
Reactive airways dysfunction syndrome (RADS)	609	7.4	325	6.5	284	8.7	0.004
Confirmed, but unclassifiable^f	2354	28.6	1374	27.6	980	30.0	0.467
Age
16–24	670	8.1	311	6.3	359	11.0	<0.0001
25–34	1572	19.1	850	17.1	722	22.1	<0.0001
35–44	2369	28.8	1467	29.5	902	27.6	0.068
45–54	2329	28.3	1537	30.9	792	24.3	<0.0001
55–64	1130	13.7	712	14.3	418	12.8	0.051
≥65	111	1.4	65	1.3	46	1.4	0.694
Unknown	56	0.7	31	0.6	25	0.8	0.441
Race
White	4008	48.7	2410	48.5	1598	49.0	0.659
Black	864	10.5	594	11.9	270	8.3	<0.0001
American Indian/Alaskan Native	104	1.3	62	1.3	42	1.3	0.874
Asian	160	1.9	112	2.3	48	1.5	0.012
Other/mixed race	388	4.7	235	4.7	153	4.7	0.937
Unknown	2713	32.9	1560	31.4	1153	35.3	0.0002
Ethnicity
Hispanic	602	7.8	349	7.5	253	8.2	0.223
Non-Hispanic	4635	59.7	2915	62.2	1720	55.8	<0.0001
Unknown	2530	32.6	1420	30.3	1110	36.0	<0.0001
Major Industry (NAICS 2002)
Agriculture, forestry, and fishing (11)	156	1.9	49	1.0	107	3.3	<0.0001
Mining (21)	14	0.2	4	0.1	10	0.3	0.015
Utilities (22)	84	1.0	40	0.8	44	1.4	0.016
Construction (23)	275	3.3	37	0.7	238	7.3	<0.0001
Manufacturing (31–33)	2222	27.0	955	19.2	1267	38.8	<0.0001
Wholesale trade (42)	134	1.6	57	1.2	77	2.4	<0.0001
Retail trade (44–45)	374	4.6	247	5.0	127	3.9	0.022
Transportation and warehousing (48–49)	297	3.6	137	2.8	160	4.9	<0.0001
Information (51)	146	1.8	112	2.3	34	1.0	<0.0001
Finance and insurance (52)	140	1.7	126	2.5	14	0.4	<0.0001
Real estate, rental, and leasing (53)	59	0.7	31	0.6	28	0.9	0.217
Professional, scientific, and technical services (54)	159	1.9	113	2.3	46	1.4	0.005
Management of companies and enterprises (55)	2	0.0	2	0.4	0	0.0	0.522
Administrative and support, waste management and remediation services (56)	255	3.1	117	2.4	138	4.2	<0.0001
Educational services (61)	723	8.8	586	11.8	137	4.2	<0.0001
Healthcare and social assistance (62)	1597	19.4	1427	28.7	170	5.2	<0.0001
Arts, entertainment, and recreation (71)	117	1.4	70	1.4	47	1.4	0.903
Accommodation and food services (72)	206	2.5	136	2.7	70	2.1	0.093
Other services (except public administration) (81)	181	2.2	91	1.8	90	2.8	0.005
Public administration (92)	882	10.7	527	10.6	355	10.9	0.689
Unknown	214	2.6	109	2.2	105	3.2	0.004
Major Occupation (COC 2000)
Management (001–043)	253	3.1	189	3.8	64	2.0	<0.0001
Business and financial operations (050–095)	121	1.5	108	2.2	13	0.4	<0.0001
Computer and mathematical (100–124)	56	0.7	40	0.8	16	0.5	0.090
Architecture and engineering (130–156)	76	0.9	28	0.6	48	1.5	<0.0001
Life, physical and social services (160–196)	135	1.6	91	1.8	44	1.4	0.092
Community and social services (200–206)	105	1.3	88	1.8	17	0.5	<0.0001
Legal (210–215)	20	0.2	17	0.3	3	0.1	0.024
Education training and library (220–255)	349	4.2	307	6.2	42	1.3	<0.0001
Arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media (260–296)	29	0.4	18	0.4	11	0.3	<0.0001
Healthcare practitioners and technical (300–354)	719	8.7	668	13.4	51	1.6	<0.0001
Healthcare support (360–365)	271	3.3	250	5.0	21	0.6	<0.0001
Protective service (370–395)	410	5.0	147	3.0	263	8.1	<0.0001
Food preparation and serving related (400–416)	177	2.2	121	2.4	56	1.7	0.028
Building and grounds cleaning and maintenance (420–425)	428	5.2	220	4.4	208	6.4	<0.0001
Personal care and service (430–465)	111	1.4	94	1.9	17	0.5	<0.0001
Sales and related (470–496)	219	2.7	165	3.3	54	1.7	<0.0001
Office and administrative support (500–593)	1122	13.6	993	20.0	129	4.0	<0.0001
Farming, fishing, and forestry (600–613)	81	1.0	32	0.6	49	1.5	0.0001
Construction and extraction (620–694)	331	4.0	34	0.7	297	9.1	<0.0001
Installation repair and maintenance (700–762)	246	3.0	31	0.6	215	6.6	<0.0001
Production (770–896)	1585	19.2	679	13.7	906	27.8	<0.0001
Transportation and material moving (900–975)	564	6.9	205	4.1	359	11.0	<0.0001
Unknown	829	10.1	448	9.0	381	11.7	<0.0001

COC, Census Occupation Classification; NAICS, North American Industrial Classification System (The numbers in parentheses signify NAICS 2002 codes or COC 2000 codes).

p Value for gender differences.

Includes hospital discharge and emergency department data.

Cases identified through death certificates, self-report, reports from the Mine Safety and Health Administration, and reports from Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

Pre-existing asthma aggravated by exposure or condition at work.

Includes cases of reactive airways dysfunction syndrome and occupational asthma.

Confirmed cases of work-related asthma that lack the necessary information to determine if they are new-onset asthma or work-aggravated asthma.

Numbers may not add up to total because of missing values.