Clinical characteristics and risk factors for airflow limitation in PLWHIV and uninfected controls
| PLWHIV (n=1083) | Controls (n=12 074) | P value | |
| Characteristics | |||
| Age, mean (SD) | 50.6 (11.3) | 52.8 (11.5) | <0.0001 |
| Sex (male), n (%) | 928 (85.7) | 9857 (81.6) | 0.001 |
| Ancestry | |||
| Scandinavia, n (%) | 782 (73.3) | 10 686 (89.4) | <0.0001 |
| Other European, n (%) | 129 (121) | 811 (6.8) | |
| Middle East and Indian subcontinent, n (%) | 18 (1.7) | 368 (3.1) | |
| Other, n (%) | 138 (12.9) | 87 (0.7) | |
| BMI (kg/m2), mean (SD) | 25.0 (4.0) | 26.5 (4.1) | <0.0001 |
| Tobacco exposure | |||
| Smoking status | |||
| Current, n (%) | 316 (29.2) | 1556 (12.9) | <0.0001 |
| Former, n (%) | 370 (34.2) | 4602 (38.1) | |
| Never, n (%) | 361 (33.3) | 5726 (47.4) | |
| Pack-years*, median (IQR) | 18.8 (6.6–31.1) | 15.0 (6.0–27.0) | <0.0001 |
| Any marijuana use ever, n (%) | 309 (30.1) | 1105 (17.4) | <0.0001 |
| Current e-cigarette with nicotine use, n (%) | 38 (3.9) | 156 (2.5) | <0.01 |
| Nicotine substitution†, n (%) | 61 (6.2) | 401 (4.4) | 0.017 |
| Use of any inhaled medication, n (%) | 59 (5.9) | 565 (4.8) | 0.146 |
| Passive smoking exposure (hours/day), median (IQR) | 7.0 (0.0–20.0) | 6.0 (0.0–20) | 0.831 |
| Passive smoking in childhood (years), mean (SD) | 11.5 (7.9) | 11.9 (7.7) | 0.119 |
| Other early-life and late-life exposures | |||
| Preterm delivery, n (%) | 73 (7.3) | 461 (7.3) | 1.000 |
| Educational level after high school | |||
| No education, n (%) | 116 (11.4) | 444 (7.0) | <0.0001 |
| Short (<3 years), n (%) | 102 (10.0) | 481 (7.5) | |
| Vocational, n (%) | 299 (29.4) | 2193 (34.4) | |
| Middle length, n (%) | 230 (22.6) | 1824 (28.6) | |
| University degree, n (%) | 269 (26.5) | 1431 (22.5) | |
| Pneumonia/acute bronchitis within the past 10 years‡, n (%) | |||
| No | 669 (67.4) | 4976 (42.4) | <0.0001 |
| 1–5 times | 276 (27.8) | 5566 (47.4) | |
| 6–10 times | 25 (2.5) | 1117 (9.5) | |
| >10 times | 23 (2.3) | 80 (0.7) | |
Cumulative smoking is defined as (average number of cigarettes per day/20) × number of years smoked).
Passive smoking during childhood was self-reported and reported in years (before 18 years of age). If percentages in each category do not add to 100%, it is due to missing values for that variable.
* For current or former smokers.
† Nicotine substitution includes any type of gum, patch, inhaler or tablets with nicotine.
‡ Pneumonia/bronchitis was defined as an episode requiring sick leave and/or consultation by medical doctor in the past 10 years.
BMI, body mass index; PLWHIV, people living with HIV.