Skip to main content
Environmental Sciences Europe

Table 1 Demographics of the four groups

From: Comparison of environmental intolerances and symptoms between patients with multiple chemical sensitivity, subjects with self-reported electromagnetic hypersensitivity, patients with bronchial asthma, and the general population

 

MCS

EHS

BA

Controls

OR or AORa

Orderb and differencec

MCS vs. EHS

MCS vs. BA

MCS vs. controls

EHS vs. BA

EHS vs. controls

BA vs. controls

Gender, % (n)

 Female

81.1 (90)

80.7 (96)

69.4 (68)

72.2 (447)

1.0

1.9

1.6

1.8

1.6

0.87

M, E, C, B

 Male

18.9 (21)

19.3 (23)

30.6 (30)

27.8 (172)

       

Age

 Median (IQR) (years)

46 (19)

54 (16)

49.5 (24.25)

43 (33)

0.96***

0.97

1.0

1.0

1.0****

1.0****

E, B, M, C

 Minimum–Maximum (years)

13–79

14–77

17–78

12–79

       

Employment, % (n)

 Unemployed

29.4 (30)

29.3 (34)

16.7 (15)

6.4 (38)

1.0

1.1

1.2****

1.1

1.1****

1.1

M, E, B, C

 Student

4.9 (5)

2.6 (3)

1.1 (1)

24.1 (143)

0.35

2.3

0.14**

8.4

0.27

0.047*

C, E, M, B

 Homeworker

25.5 (26)

31.0 (36)

28.9 (26)

10.6 (63)

0.99

0.87

1.5*

0.93

1.5*

1.7**

B, E, M > C

 Part-time worker

6.9 (7)

14.7 (17)

11.1 (10)

14.8 (88)

0.70

0.82

0.71

1.1

0.92

0.84

C, E, B, M

 Full-time worker

33.3 (34)

22.4 (26)

42.2 (38)

44.0 (261)

1.2

0.91

0.88

0.82

0.78***

0.98

C, B, M, E

 Working hours per day, Median (IQR) (h)

8 (7)

6 (5)

8 (4.5)

8 (4)

1.03

0.93

0.91*

0.89

0.87***

1.0

B, C > M, E

Education, % (n)

 Primary school

6.4 (5)

2.5 (3)

6.3 (6)

2.0 (12)

1.7

1.1

3.2

0.51

1.3

3.0

M, B, E, C

 High school

34.6 (27)

22.9 (27)

38.9 (37)

42.8 (253)

1.4

0.97

0.90

0.64*

0.7*

1.0

B, C, M, E

 College/university

56.4 (44)

67.8 (80)

53.7 (51)

50.8 (300)

0.85

0.98

1.0

1.2

1.2

0.99

E, M, B, Cd

 Graduate

2.6 (2)

6.8 (8)

1.1 (1)

4.4 (26)

0.78

1.4

0.87

1.7

1.1

0.68

E, C, M, B

  1. MCS and M Multiple chemical sensitivity, EHS and E Electromagnetic hypersensitivity, BA and B Bronchial asthma, C Controls, OR Odds ratio, AOR Adjusted odds ratio, IQR Interquartile range
  2. aIn case of A vs. B, OR or AOR of the score of A against the score of B. For gender and age OR was calculated. For employment and education AOR was calculated using age and gender as covariates
  3. bOrder based on the OR or AOR
  4. cIn case of A > B, the score of A was significantly higher than that of B (p < 0.05)
  5. dOrder based on the proportion
  6. *p < 0.05,
  7. **p < 0.01,
  8. ***p < 0.001
  9. ****p < 0.0001
Back to article page