Table 1. Characteristics of the study population.
| Characteristic | Exposed area | Reference area | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Inflammatory bowel disease | Low back pain | Inflammatory bowel disease | Low back pain | |
| Patients, n | 141 | 6,127 | 109 | 4,342 |
| Gender (female) | 54% | 51% | 48% | 52% |
| Age, in years, mean (±SD) | 50 (±17) | 51 (±18)*** | 49 (±20) | 50 (±19) |
| 3–24, n (%) | 11 (8%) | 651 (11%) | 20 (18%) | 494 (11%) |
| 25–44, n (%) | 41 (29%) | 1,406 (23%) | 19 (17%) | 1,126 (26%) |
| 45–64, n (%) | 58 (41%) | 2,522 (41%) | 41 (38%) | 1,720 (40%) |
| ≥65–104, n (%) | 31 (22%) | 1,548 (25%)*** | 29 (27%) | 1,002 (23%) |
| Healthcare utilisation | ||||
| Total number of presented morbidity with GP in the reporting year and three previous years to the diagnosis, mean (±SD) | 31 (±32) | 29 (±31)*** | 38 (±42) | 34 (±39) |
| Total number of drug prescriptions in the reporting year and three previous years to the diagnosis, mean (±SD) | 43 (±65) | 32 (±57)** | 46 (±78) | 34 (±55) |
| Exposure to livestock | ||||
| Patients, n | 135 | 5,790 | N/A | N/A |
| Distance to nearest livestock farm, n (%) | N/A | N/A | ||
| ≤500m | 64 (47%) | 3,165 (55%) | ||
| >500m | 71 (53%) | 2,625 (45%) | ||
| Number of livestock farms ≤500m, n (%) |
||||
| 0 | 72 (53%) | 2,663 (46%) | ||
| 1–2 | 32 (24%) | 1,810 (31%) | ||
| 3 > 13 | 30 (22%) | 1,314 (23%) | ||
| Presence of farm animals ≤500m (yes or no), n (%) |
||||
| Pigs | 33 (24%) | 1,508 (26%) | ||
| Poultry | 22 (16%) | 642 (11%) | ||
| Cattle | 43 (32%) | 2,465 (43%) | ||
| Others (goats, sheep and minks) |
25 (19%) | 657 (11%) | ||
** p-value < 0.01
*** p-value = 0.001, ref are patients in the reference area