Table 1.
Characteristics of the study population by CAFOs exposure level based on the number of CAFOs within a 15 km buffer around residence
| Characteristics | Total number of deaths (n=1,195,272) |
CAFOs exposure for 15 km buffer around residence (%) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No CAFO exposure (n=348,394) |
Low (n=268,128) |
Medium (n=300,493) |
High (n=278,257) |
||
| Cause of Death | |||||
| Cardiovascular | 400,440 (33.5) | 112,985 (32.4) | 88,177 (32.9) | 101,359 (33.7) | 97,919 (35.2) |
| Respiratory | 133,123 (11.1) | 38,668 (11.1) | 30,224 (11.3) | 33,769 (11.2) | 30,462 (11.0) |
| Asthma | 1,667 (0.1) | 465 (0.1) | 350 (0.1) | 417 (0.1) | 435 (0.2) |
| Anemia | 1,212 (0.1) | 354 (0.1) | 251 (0.1) | 296 (0.1) | 311 (0.1) |
| Kidney | 28,126 (2.4) | 8,021 (2.3) | 6,120 (2.3) | 7,138 (2.4) | 6,847 (2.5) |
| Other | 630,704 (52.8) | 187,901 (53.9) | 143,006 (53.3) | 157,514 (52.4) | 142,283 (51.1) |
| Sex (%) | |||||
| Male | 572,949 (47.9) | 166,418 (47.8) | 127,676 (47.6) | 143,839 (47.9) | 135,016 (48.5) |
| Female | 622,303 (52.1) | 181,972 (52.2) | 140,448 (52.4) | 156,650 (52.1) | 143,233 (51.5) |
| Missing | 20 (<0.01) | 4 (0.01) | 4 (0.01) | 4 (0.01) | 8 (0.01) |
| Race/Ethnicity | |||||
| Non-Hispanic White | 925,132 (77.5) | 277,792 (79.8) | 211,299 (78.9) | 234,827 (78.2) | 201,214 (72.4) |
| Non-Hispanic Black | 244,162 (20.4) | 63,373 (18.2) | 52,370 (19.6) | 59,415 (19.8) | 69,004 (24.8) |
| Other | 24,947 (2.1) | 6,911 (2.0) | 4,218 (1.6) | 6,033 (2.0) | 7,785 (2.8) |
| Missing | 1,031 (0.09) | 318 (0.09) | 241 (0.09) | 218 (0.07) | 254 (0.09) |
| Age at death (years) | |||||
| ≤17 | 11,271 (1.0) | 3,400 (1.0) | 2,465 (0.9) | 2,726 (0.9) | 2,680 (1.0) |
| 18-59 | 186,911 (15.7) | 52,941 (15.3) | 40,621 (15.2) | 46,381 (15.5) | 46,968 (17.0) |
| 60-74 | 322,804 (27.2) | 90,588 (26.2) | 71,417 (26.8) | 80,674 (27.0) | 80,125 (29.0) |
| ≥75 | 667,240 (56.2) | 199,463 (57.6) | 152,062 (57.0) | 168,970 (56.6) | 146,745 (53.1) |
| Missing | 7,046 (0.6) | 2,002 (0.6) | 1,563 (0.6) | 1,742 (0.6) | 1,739 (0.6) |
| Education | |||||
| Middle school or less | 224,225 (19.0) | 57,595 (16.7) | 47,283 (17.9) | 57,641 (19.5) | 61,706 (22.5) |
| Some High school | 219,993 (18.7) | 55,422 (16.1) | 47,622 (18.0) | 57,050 (19.3) | 59,899 (21.8) |
| High school | 393,092 (33.3) | 113,618 (33.0) | 87,245 (33.0) | 98,309 (33.2) | 93,920 (34.2) |
| Some college/Associate Degree | 161,510 (13.7) | 52,871 (15.4) | 37,407 (14.1) | 39,624 (13.4) | 31,608 (11.5) |
| Bachelor’s Degree or above | 180,702 (15.3) | 64,733 (18.8) | 45,021 (17.0) | 43,702 (14.8) | 27,246 (9.9) |
| Missing | 15,750 (1.3) | 4,155 (1.2) | 3,550 (1.3) | 4,167 (1.4) | 3,878 (1.4) |
| Community-level actors | |||||
| Median annual household income | |||||
| < $25,000 | 73,435 (6.1) | 23,485 (6.7) | 13,902 (5.2) | 14,561 (4.9) | 21,487 (7.7) |
| $25,000-$49,999 | 765,792 (64.1) | 193,269 (55.5) | 155,728 (58.1) | 202,948 (67.5) | 213,847 (76.9) |
| $50,000-$99,999 | 336,579 (28.2) | 121,372 (34.8) | 93,399 (34.8) | 78,885 (26.3) | 42,923 (15.4) |
| > $99,999 | 19,466 (1.6) | 10,268 (3.0) | 5,099 (1.9) | 4,099 (1.4) | 0 (0.0) |
| Urbanicity | |||||
| Urbanized area | 696,516 (58.3) | 250,184 (71.8) | 171,710 (64.0) | 187,409 (62.4) | 87,213 (31.3) |
| Urban cluster | 355,776 (29.8) | 64,401 (18.5) | 77,072 (28.7) | 84,434 (28.1) | 129,869 (46.7) |
| Rural area | 142,980 (12.0) | 33,809 (9.7) | 19,346 (7.2) | 28,650 (9.5) | 61,175 (22.0) |
| Region | |||||
| Mountain | 192,820 (16.1) | 89,684 (25.7) | 45,329 (16.9) | 47,927 (16.0) | 9,880 (3.6) |
| Piedmont | 649,988 (54.4) | 203,466 (58.4) | 171,135 (63.8) | 186,061 (61.9) | 89,326 (32.1) |
| Coastal plain | 352,463 (29.5) | 55,243 (15.9) | 51,664 (19.3) | 66,505 (22.1) | 179,051 (64.4) |
Note: CAFOs exposure group was based on the number of CAFOs within a 15 km buffer around residence; low, medium, and high as tertiles
Number of CAFOs based on 15km buffer: low <3, medium 3-7, and high ≥8 CAFOs