Table 5.
Home/family characteristics as univariate predictors of bacterial levels in air samples. Concentrations have been pooled from all three size ranges. Significant associations (p<0.05) are shown in boldand underlined.
| Air concentration [cell eq./m3] Geometric mean (geometric standard deviation) |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home characteristic | n# | S. maltophilia | Streptomyces | Mycobacterium |
| Direct factors/sources | ||||
| Number of inhabitants* | ||||
| ≤ 3 | 8 | 1046 (1.8) | 70 (3.7) | 1482 (2.8) |
| 4 | 13 | 723 (1.4) | 37 (2.2) | 1334 (1.5) |
| ≥ 5 | 17 | 833 (1.4) | 54 (2.1) | 2189 (1.8) |
| p | 0.95 | 0.55 | 0.01 | |
| Presence of dogs† | ||||
| No | 21 | 791 (1.5) | 47 (2.3) | 1438 (1.6) |
| Yes | 17 | 889 (1.6) | 54 (2.7) | 2097 (2.3) |
| p | 0.41 | 0.84 | 0.17 | |
| Indirect factors/sources | ||||
| Reported water damage† | ||||
| No | 14 | 874 (1.6) | 38 (2.1) | 1663 (1.9) |
| Yes | 24 | 810 (1.5) | 59 (2.6) | 1726 (2.1) |
| p | 0.61 | 0.35 | 0.88 | |
| Reported visible mold† | ||||
| No | 17 | 753 (1.7) | 49 (2.4) | 1502 (1.9) |
| Yes | 21 | 904 (1.3) | 51 (2.5) | 1884 (2.1) |
| p | 0.22 | 0.81 | 0.33 | |
| Relative humidity (%)* | ||||
| 21.0-30.4 | 14 | 806 (1.5) | 40 (2.1) | 1636 (1.8) |
| 30.5-40.9 | 13 | 922 (1.7) | 63 (2.8) | 1879 (2.2) |
| 41.0-57.3 | 11 | 771 (1.4) | 51 (2.6) | 1593 (2.1) |
| p | 0.97 | 0.56 | 0.90 | |
| Temperature(°C)* | ||||
| 13.0-21.8 | 15 | 935 (1.5) | 47 (2.6) | 2188 (1.9) |
| 21.9-25.0 | 12 | 723 (1.6) | 50 (2.1) | 1517 (2.1) |
| 25.1-27.8 | 11 | 831 (1.6) | 56 (2.9) | 1371 (1.9) |
| p | 0.60 | 0.41 | 0.18 | |
| Surface moisture† | ||||
| Air-dry | 30 | 796 (1.5) | 50 (2.3) | 1676 (1.9) |
| Borderline damp | 5 | 1171 (1.8) | 73 (3.4) | 2570 (2.1) |
| p | 0.07 | 0.39 | 0.19 | |
| General home characteristics | ||||
| Flooring type† | ||||
| Hard surface | 6 | 1119 (1.7) | 53 (2.8) | 2451 (1.8) |
| Carpet/rug | 32 | 788 (1.5) | 50 (2.4) | 1590 (2.0) |
| p | 0.07 | 0.99 | 0.17 | |
| Age of home (yr)* | ||||
| > 77 | 11 | 890 (1.6) | 81 (2.6) | 2241 (1.9) |
| 35 - 77 | 12 | 816 (1.6) | 44 (2.2) | 1519 (2.2) |
| < 35 | 13 | 836 (1.5) | 42 (2.4) | 1666 (1.8) |
| p | 0.63 | 0.12 | 0.23 | |
*
Linearly modeled variable. For this table,categorized into approximate tertiles.
†
Categorical variable.
#
Information on some home characteristics was missing and therefore, n does not add up to 38.
Note: Covariates thatwere significant at the 20% level in theseunivariate regression modelswere included in the initial multivariate model.