Table 7. Distribution of patients classified according to risk of MCS using three cut-off values and Masking-I.

Risk of MCS	Q1 Chemical Intolerances	Q3 Symptom Severity	Q5 Life Impacts	Masking-I	MCS patients, n (%)		Controls, n (%)
					16 categories	4 categories	16 categories	4 categories
Very suggestive	≥30	≥13	≥17	≥3	16 (14.4)	91 (82.0)	16 (3.6)	25 (5.6)
Very suggestive	≥30	≥13	≥17	<3	75 (67.6)		9 (2.0)
Somewhat suggestive	<30	≥13	≥17	≥3	5 (4.5)	5 (4.5)	11 (2.5)	11 (2.5)
Problematic	<30	≥13	≥17	<3	0 (0.0)	12 (10.8)	3 (0.7)	213 (48.0)
Problematic	≥30	<13	≥17	≥3	1 (0.9)		2 (0.5)
Problematic	≥30	<13	≥17	<3	0 (0.0)		2 (0.5)
Problematic	≥30	≥13	<17	≥3	3 (2.7)		68 (15.3)
Problematic	≥30	≥13	<17	<3	2 (1.8)		23 (5.2)
Problematic	≥30	<13	<17	≥3	1 (0.9)		40 (9.0)
Problematic	≥30	<13	<17	<3	0 (0.0)		12 (2.7)
Problematic	<30	<13	≥17	≥3	1 (0.9)		1 (0.2)
Problematic	<30	<13	≥17	<3	0 (0.0)		1 (0.2)
Problematic	<30	≥13	<17	≥3	4 (3.6)		61 (13.7)
Not suggestive	<30	≥13	<17	<3	1 (0.9)	3 (2.7)	11 (2.5)	195 (43.9)
Not suggestive	<30	<13	<17	≥3	1 (0.9)		144 (32.4)
Not suggestive	<30	<13	<17	<3	1 (0.9)		40 (9.0)

Very suggestive: study participants whose scores for Q1 Chemical Intolerances, Q3 Symptom Severity, and Q5 Life Impacts were higher than or equal to the cut-off values. Somewhat suggestive: study participants whose scores for Q3 Symptom Severity, Q5 Life Impacts, and Masking-I were higher than or equal to the cut-off values, and the Q1 Chemical Intolerances score was lower than the cut-off value. Not suggestive: study participants whose only Q3 Symptom Severity score among the four cut-off values was higher than or equal to the cut-off values or participants whose scores for Q1 Chemical Intolerances, Q3 Symptom Severity, and Q5 Life Impacts were lower than the cut-off values. Problematic: study participants who were not classified in the above three categories. MCS, Multiple chemical sensitivity