Table 1.
Comparison of Salivary Epstein-Barr Virus (EBV) DNA Loads Among Healthy Subjects in Different Geographical Areas of China
| Salivary EBV Load | North Population (n = 2416) |
Northeast Population (n = 1279) |
South Population (n = 1223) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall, EBV NDA copies/mL, median (IQR)a | 3.75 (0.00–5.40) | 4.57 (2.89–6.08) | 5.58 (3.92–6.55) |
| <P 25,bsubjects, no. (%) | 809 (33.49) | 263 (20.56) | 156 (12.76) |
| P 25 to <P 50,bsubjects, no. (%) | 640 (26.49) | 356 (27.83) | 232 (18.97) |
| P 50 to <P 75,bsubjects, no. (%) | 581 (24.05) | 310 (24.24) | 345 (28.21) |
| ≥P 75,bsubjects, no. (%) | 386 (15.98) | 350 (27.37) | 490 (40.07) |
| OR (95% CI)c | 1.00 (reference) | 2.03 (1.79–2.31) | 3.80 (3.33–4.34) |
aMedians and interquartile ranges (IQRs) were used to describe the distribution of EBV loads among different populations, and log10-transformed numbers of EBV copies/mL of saliva was used since the original values were highly skewed．
bP25, P50, and P75 refer to the first quartile of 102.55, the median of 104.47, and third quartile of 105.95 EBV copies/mL of saliva, respectively, in the total population of 4918 subjects．
cOrdered logistic regression analyses were used to assess odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) by adjusting for age (continuous variable), sex (male or female), and education level (high school and less or university and greater)．