Table 2.
Characteristics of study participants including lifestyle factors and personal and family disease histories.
| Variables | Chimney sweeps n = 151 | Controls n = 152 | P f |
|---|---|---|---|
| n e (%) | n e (%) | ||
| Smoking (smoker/party-/ex-/non-smoker) | 27/25/24/74 (18/17/16/49) | 25/4/40/83 (16/3/26/55) | <0.001 |
| Snus (yes/no) | 52/98 (35/65) | 29/123 (19/81) | 0.003 |
| Passive smoking (yes/no) | 28/121 (19/81) | 24/128 (16/84) | 0.543 |
| Sampling season (spring/summer/autumn/winter) | 47/16/71/16 (31/11/47/11) | 51/36/52/13 (33/24/34/9) | 0.011 |
| Residency (big city/small city/big town/small town) | 20/32/60/37 (13/22/40/25) | 37/33/59/23 (24/22/39/15) | 0.039 |
| Education (high school or lower/university or higher) | 126/24 (84/16) | 120/31 (79/21) | 0.371 |
| Physical activity (high/low) | 73/77 (49/51) | 62/90 (41/59) | 0.218 |
| Exposure from hobby (yes/no) | 9/141 (6/94) | 6/146 (4/96) | 0.441 |
| Vegetablesa (≥5 times a week/< 5 times a week) | 96/54 (64/36) | 88/63 (58/42) | 0.345 |
| Fruitsb (≥5 times a week/<5 times a week) | 75/75 (50/50) | 88/63 (58/42) | 0.202 |
| Fishc (≥ once a week/< once a week) | 73/77 (49/51) | 70/82 (46/54) | 0.484 |
| Myocardial infarction (yes/no) | 4/146 (3/97) | 0 (0) | 0.060 |
| Angina pectoris (yes/no) | 7/143 (5/95) | 9/142 (6/94) | 0.798 |
| Hypertension (yes/no) | 27/123 (18/82) | 22/129 (15/85) | 0.439 |
| Stroke (yes/no) | 1/149 (1/99) | 2/150 (1/99) | 1.000 |
| Thrombosis in arm/leg (yes/no) | 6/144 (4/96) | 3/149 (2/98) | 0.334 |
| Other heart disease (yes/no) | 3/147 (2/98) | 3/149 (2/98) | 1.000 |
| All CVD-related morbiditiesd (yes/no) | 39/111 (26/74) | 35/116 (23/77) | 0.594 |
| Kidney/ urinary disease (yes/no) | 7/143 (5/95) | 6/146 (4/96) | 0.785 |
| Diabetes (yes/no) | 1/149 (1/99) | 6/146 (4/96) | 0.121 |
| Family history of CVD (yes/no) | 68/78 (47/53) | 54/94 (36/64) | 0.097 |
aIntake of all kinds of vegetables, legumes and root vegetables (fresh, frozen, canned, stewed, juice, soup, etc.). bIntake of all kinds of fruits and berries (fresh, frozen, canned, juice, jam, etc.). cIntake of all kinds of fish. dHaving current or previous cardiovascular disease(s), i.e. myocardial infarction, angina pectoris, hypertension, stroke, thrombosis in arm/leg and other heart diseases. eThere were up to 5 missing cases for some of the variables. f P-value for Fisher’s Exact test.