TABLE II.

Adjusted associations between S aureus nasal colonization and asthma and wheeze

Outcomes, OR [95% CI]	Whole population (age 6 to 85 y)	Age 6 to 30 y	Age 31 to 85 y	S aureus and age interaction
Sample size	n = 16,234	n = 8,703	n = 7,531
Wheeze outcomes:
Wheeze in the past year†	1.02 [0.87, 1.20]	1.35 [1.06, 1.73]*	0.85 [0.68, 1.06]	P = .006
Wheeze during exercise†	1.00 [0.82, 1.19]	1.27 [0.95, 1.70]	0.84 [0.67, 1.08]	P = .06
Nocturnal wheeze§	1.05 [0.84, 1.34]	1.52 [1.15, 2.00]**	0.79 [0.53, 1.18]	P = .01
Emergency room visit for wheezing‡	1.28 [1.00, 1.62]*	1.50 [1.10, 2.03]*	1.11 [0.70, 1.78]	P = .26
Wheeze limits activities‡	1.11 [0.89, 1.38]	1.41 [1.05, 1.90]*	0.97 [0.72, 1.29]	P = .03
Medication for wheezing§	0.93 [0.75, 1.14]	1.52 [1.08, 2.14]*	0.64 [0.48, 0.84]**	P < .001
Miss work or school due to wheeze‡¶	1.03 [0.77, 1.39]	1.42 [1.04, 1.94]*	0.61 [0.32, 1.20]	P = .01
Asthma outcomes:
Asthma diagnosis ever†	1.07 [0.92, 1.23]	1.25 [0.99, 1.56]	0.92 [0.76, 1.11]	P = .04
Current asthma†	1.08 [0.87, 1.35]	1.27 [0.95, 1.70]	0.93 [0.71, 1.22]	P = .06
Asthma attack in past year§	1.37 [1.03, 1.83]*	1.42 [0.92, 2.19]	1.31 [0.94, 1.84]	P = .64
Emergency room visit for asthma||	1.44 [0.89, 2.31]	1.97 [1.05, 3.73]*	0.85 [0.37, 1.94]	P = .09

OR are (odds for colonized)/(odds for noncolonized).

Adjusted models use survey weighting and account for gender, ethnicity, obesity, smoking in the home, episode of flu, number of health care visits, poverty income ratio, and household size.

Whole-population and within-age-stratum models use age as a continuous variable.

Models with the S aureus * age interaction term use age as a binary variable.

Boldface: P < .05:

^*P < .05;

^**P < .01.

^†≤1% missing data.

^‡1% to 4% missing data.

^§5% to 7% missing data.

^||8% to 10% missing data.

^¶Excluding 2,120 participants over 65 years old.