Table 1.

Sociodemographic characteristics of welders included in this pilot study (n = 19) stratified by self-reported respirator use.

Characteristic	All participants	Welders using respirator (n = 11)	Welders not using Respirator (n = 8)	p a
Sex; n (%)
Male	18 (94.7)	10 (90.9)	8 (100)	Ref
Female	1 (5.3)	1 (9.1)	0 (0)	0.99
Smoking; n (%)
No	6 (31.6)	4 (36.4)	2 (25)	Ref
Former	11 (57.9)	6 (54.5)	5 (62.5)	0.56
Yes	2 (10.5)	1 (9.1)	1 (12.5)	0.50
Race/Ethnicity; n (%)
White	14 (73.7)	8 (72.7)	6 (75)	Ref
Black	3 (15.8)	2 (18.2)	1 (12.5)	0.71
Hispanic	2 (10.5)	1 (9.1)	1 (12.5)	0.61
Age (y);
Mean (SD) [Range]	49.9 (8.6) [35 – 64]	50.5 (10.0) [35 – 64]	49.1 (6.7) [41 – 57]	0.71
BMI;
Mean (SD) [Range]	30.2 (3.4) [23 – 35]	30.2 (4) [23 – 35]	30.2 (2.7) [26 – 34]	0.95
Years welding;
Mean (SD) [Range]	19.5 (9.7) [5 – 43]	20.6 (10.6) [5 – 43]	18 (8.8) [5 – 34]	0.46
Type of welding process (%);
Mean (SD) [Range]
Grinding	22 (14) [0 – 50]	16 (11) [0 – 32]	29 (15) [10 – 50]	0.10b
Burning	12 (11) [0 – 40]	10 (12) [0 – 40]	29 (15) [10 – 50]	0.33b
Welding	66 (18) [33 – 93]	74 (13) [50 – 93]	55 (18) [33 – 86]	0.10b
Type of welding tool (%);
Mean (SD) [Range]
Stick	60 (42) [0 – 100]	44 (45) [0 – 100]	82 (24) [50 – 100]	0.06b
MIG	29 (38) [0 – 100]	37 (44) [0 – 100]	18 (24) [0 – 50]	0.24b
TIG	1 (5) [0 – 20]	2 (6) [0 – 20]	0 (0) [0]	0.99b
Time respirator used (%);
Mean (SD) [Range]	n/a	76 (25) [40-100]	n/a	n/a

Note. BMI = Body Mass Index.

^ap-values from a logistic linear regression (GLM) used to determine differences in sociodemographic characteristics between respirator users and non-users.

^bType of welding process and tool were reported as % of time, where all 3 types add up to 100%. Since these three variables are collinear, they were analyzed in three separate GLMs, adjusted for all the other covariates.

MIG = metal inert gas, TIG = tungsten inert gas.