Table 2

Associations between raw milk exposure and pulmonary function in the Agricultural Lung Health Study, 2009–2013

		FEV₁ (mL)		FVC (mL)		FEV₁/FVC (%)
Raw milk exposure	N	β (95% CI)*	p Value	β (95% CI)*	p Value	β (95% CI)*	p Value
Total	3061
Raw milk started before or after age 6
Never drank raw milk	643	Referent		Referent		Referent
Start before age 6	1888	51.3 (2.8 to 99.8)	0.04	76.7 (21.7 to 131.7)	0.006	0.3 (−0.5 to 1.1)	0.51
Start age 6 or after	336	42.7 (−22.3 to 107.8)	0.20	35.3 (−38.5 to 109.0)	0.35	0.7 (−0.4 to 1.7)	0.23
Missing	194
Raw milk started before or after age 3
Never drank raw milk	643	Referent		Referent		Referent
Start before age 3	1688	51.1 (1.6 to 100.6)	0.04	74.3 (18.2 to 130.4)	0.01	0.3 (−0.5 to 1.1)	0.48
Start age 3 or after	536	46.0 (−11.0 to 103.0)	0.11	53.9 (−10.8 to 118.5)	0.10	0.5 (−0.4 to 1.7)	0.31
Missing	194
Was raw milk the main milk in childhood
No	1173	Referent		Referent		Referent
Yes	1781	28.3 (−12.7 to 69.3)	0.18	53.8 (7.2 to 100.5)	0.02	−0.1 (−0.8 to 0.5)	0.68
Missing	107
Ever raw milk/main milk in childhood
Never drank raw milk	643	Referent		Referent		Referent
Drank raw but not main milk	415	56.9 (−3.8 to 117.6)	0.07	60.6 (−8.2 to 129.5)	0.08	0.7 (−0.3 to 1.7)	0.19
Main milk was raw	1781	45.2 (−4.4 to 94.8)	0.07	66.4 (10.1 to 122.7)	0.02	0.2 (−0.6 to 1.0)	0.56
Missing	222

*Estimates represent the difference in mean response (FEV₁ and FVC in millilitres and FEV₁/FVC as a percent) between a subject who experienced the exposure and one who did not, holding all covariates constant. Covariates were selected based on previous research on modelling pulmonary function and Agricultural Lung Health Study analyses and included age, age², gender, race, state (Iowa or North Carolina), height, height², smoking status, pack-years, asthma status, and for FVC, weight. CIs were calculated as the beta coefficient plus or minus 1.96 times the standard error (β ±1.96×SE).