Table 1.
Baseline and clinical characteristics of the study population.
| Characteristics | Subjects without hypozincemia (≥120 µg/dL) n = 1,313 | Subjects with hypozincemia (<120 µg/dL) n = 554 | p value | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age, years (SD) | 44.9 (14.5) | 44.8 (15.3) | 0.870 | |
| Male, n (%) | 721 (54.9) | 197 (35.6) | <0.001 | |
| BMI, kg/m2 (SD) | 23.7 (3.4) | 23.4 (3.3) | 0.025 | |
| House income | 0.942 | |||
| Very low (0~25%), n (%) | 205 (15.6) | 88 (15.9) | ||
| Low (25~50%), n (%) | 357 (27.2) | 151 (27.3) | ||
| Moderate (50~75%), n (%) | 373 (28.4) | 150 (27.1) | ||
| High (75~100%), n (%) | 378 (28.8) | 165 (29.8) | ||
| Region | 0.996 | |||
| Urban, n (%) | 614 (46.8) | 259 (46.8) | ||
| Rural, n (%) | 699 (53.2) | 295 (53.2) | ||
| Smoking | 0.002 | |||
| Non-smoker, n (%) | 661 (50.3) | 340 (61.4) | ||
| Ex-smoker, n (%) | 276 (21.0) | 108 (19.5) | ||
| Current smoker, n (%) | 376 (28.6) | 106 (19.1) | ||
| Alcohol consumption (at least once a month), n (%) | 807 (61.5) | 298 (53.8) | 0.002 | |
| Asthma, n (%) | 36 (2.7) | 15 (2.7) | 0.967 | |
| Atopic dermatitis, n (%) | 40 (3.0) | 15 (2.7) | 0.692 | |
| Allergic rhinitis, n (%) | 201 (15.3) | 80 (14.4) | 0.632 | |
| Metabolic syndrome, n (%) | 306 (23.3) | 112 (20.2) | 0.145 | |
| Systolic blood pressure, mmHg (SD) | 117.4 (16.7) | 116.4 (16.7) | 0.210 | |
| Diastolic blood pressure, mmHg (SD) | 75.2 (10.5) | 74.6 (10.2) | 0.283 | |
| Fasting glucose | 0.249 | |||
| Within normal range (<100 mg/dL), n (%) | 1003 (76.4) | 404 (72.9) | ||
| Impaired fasting glucose (100~125 mg/dL), n (%) | 238 (18.1) | 112 (20.2) | ||
| Elevated fasting glucose(≥126 mg/dL), n (%) | 72 (5.5) | 38 (6.9) | ||
| Total cholesterol, mg/dL (SD) | 188.6 (36.9) | 184.4 (37.8) | 0.023 | |
| Triglyceride, mg/dL (SD) | 138.3 (127.7) | 123.4 (105.6) | 0.016 | |
| HDL, mg/dL (SD) | 48.0 (11.1) | 50.2 (11.5) | <0.001 | |
| LDL, mg/dL (SD) | 113.8 (31.6) | 109.1 (32.3) | 0.004 | |
| Increased serum total IgE, n (%) | 585 (44.6) | 247 (44.6) | 0.990 | |
| Sensitization to specific allergen | ||||
| Dermatophagoides farinae, n (%) | 504 (38.4) | 210 (37.9) | 0.846 | |
| Cockroaches, n (%) | 271 (20.6) | 105 (19.0) | 0.406 | |
| Dogs, n (%) | 62 (4.7) | 37 (6.7) | 0.085 | |
| Serum Zn, µg/dL (SD) | 149.6 (24.7) | 105.4 (10.9) | <0.001 | |
| Vitamin D, ng/mL (SD) | 18.6 (6.6) | 16.7 (5.9) | <0.001 | |
BMI, body mass index; HDL, high-density lipoprotein; IgE, immunoglobulin E; LDL, low-density lipoprotein; SD, standard deviation; Zn, zinc.