Table 1 Characteristics of the study population with complete data on wheezing from birth to 81 months (n = 6265) compared with those with missing data
Children with complete data on wheezing (n = 6265)Children with 2–6 observations (n = 5413)Children with 0–1 observations (n = 2384)
n/total%n/total%n/total%
Girls3029/6265482623/5413481138/238248
Demographic data
Rented house973/6143161583/511631943/148351
Mother not married1041/6202171427/515428758/186441
Overcrowding218/60884404/50198260/177115
One or more siblings3289/6125542862/5069561043/181358
Low maternal education*3496/6183573531/4975711038/130979
Teenage mother89/62651303/54136263/238411
Mother manual occupation793/538015933/385124284/86833
Partner manual occupation2158/5728382112/428549583/98559
Prevalence of wheeze
    At 6 months1506/6265241338/464429165/50733
    6 months1506/6265241338/464429165/50733
    18 months1645/6265261334/45742943/13831
    30 months1336/626521905/36712521/5439
    42 months1051/626517705/3705195/3415
    54 months1128/626518644/3122217/2330
    69 months938/626515389/2327171/911
    81 months852/626514273/2127134/1136
  • *Low maternal education classified as “O” level or below (equivalent to school leaving certificate at 16 years in the UK).