Association between cumulative EU-years and fixed airflow obstruction, chronic bronchitis and respiratory symptoms (n=1255)
| Cumulative exposures | Fixed AO-GOLD | Fixed AO-LLN | Chronic bronchitis | Chronic cough | Chronic phlegm | Dyspnoea | ||||||
| RR (95% CI)* | p Value | RR (95% CI) | p Value | RR (95% CI) | p Value | RR (95% CI) | p Value | RR (95% CI) | p Value | RR (95% CI) | p Value | |
| Biological dust | 1.05 (0.97 to 1.13) | 0.22 | 1.03 (0.96 to 1.12) | 0.35 | 1.06 (0.99 to 1.13) | 0.07 | 1.07 (1.00 to 1.15) | 0.05 | 1.01 (0.94 to 1.09) | 0.68 | 0.99 (0.92 to 1.06) | 0.82 |
| Mineral dust | 1.03 (0.97 to 1.10) | 0.31 | 1.03 (0.97 to 1.11) | 0.28 | 1.04 (0.98 to 1.11) | 0.12 | 1.00 (0.93 to 1.07) | 0.97 | 1.03 (0.96 to 1.10) | 0.36 | 1.05 (1.00 to 1.11) | 0.05 |
| Gases/fumes | 1.02 (0.96 to 1.09) | 0.44 | 1.02 (0.96 to 1.09) | 0.51 | 1.03 (0.97 to 1.09) | 0.36 | 0.97 (0.91 to 1.04) | 0.54 | 1.03 (0.98 to 1.10) | 0.23 | 1.05 (1.00 to 1.10) | 0.05 |
| VGDF | 1.02 (0.97 to 1.08) | 0.32 | 1.03 (0.97 to 1.09) | 0.33 | 1.05 (1.00 to 1.10) | 0.05 | 1.03 (0.97 to 1.08) | 0.24 | 1.03 (0.98 to 1.08) | 0.25 | 1.02 (0.98 to 1.07) | 0.25 |
| All pesticides | 1.12 (1.00 to 1.25) | 0.05 | 1.13 (1.00 to 1.29) | 0.05 | 1.16 (1.10 to 1.30) | 0.01 | 1.12 (1.00 to 1.28) | 0.05 | 1.13 (1.00 to 1.30) | 0.05 | 0.94 (0.82 to 1.08) | 0.40 |
| Herbicides | 1.16 (1.00 to 1.32) | 0.04 | 1.15 (1.00 to 1.36) | 0.05 | 1.22 (1.05 to 1.41) | 0.01 | 1.12 (0.97 to 1.30) | 0.12 | 1.10 (0.93 to 1.31) | 0.23 | 0.91 (0.77 to 1.09) | 0.33 |
| Insecticides | 1.10 (0.98 to 1.24) | 0.10 | 1.10 (0.96 to 1.26) | 0.19 | 1.15 (1.02 to 1.29) | 0.02 | 1.06 (0.92 to 1.22) | 0.38 | 1.13 (0.99 to 1.30) | 0.08 | 0.94 (0.83 to 1.09) | 0.51 |
The bolded text identifies results reaching statistical significance (p≤0.05).
*Adjusted for sex, smoking, pack-years, childhood and adulthood socioeconomic status, and childhood and adulthood asthma. The analyses with biological dust, mineral dust, gases/fumes and VGDF were additionally adjusted for all pesticides, whereas the analyses with all pesticides, herbicides and insecticides were additionally adjusted for VGDF exposure.
AO, airflow obstruction; EU, exposure unit; GOLD, Global Obstructive Lung Disease; LLN, lower limit of normal; RR, relative risk; VGDF, vapour, gases, dust and fumes.