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Table 1 Prevalence of asthma and gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) among adult World Trade Center Health Registry enrollees in 2015–16

From: Persistent mental and physical health impact of exposure to the September 11, 2001 World Trade Center terrorist attacks

   Asthma GERD
  Adult W4 participants Lifetime prevalence a Participants without pre-9/11 asthma Newly diagnosed asthma since 9/11c Persistent LRS among those with post-9/11 asthma d Age adjusted lifetime prevalence e Participants without pre-9/11 GERD diagnosis Newly diagnosed GERD since 9/11f Frequent GERS among those with post-9/11 GERD g
Characteristic N % (age adjusted) b N N % (age adjusted) b N % % (age adjusted) b N N % (age adjusted) b N %
Overall 35,897 25.4 (24.7) 31,951 4556 15.4 (14.3) 3318 76.5 25.5 (24.2) 34,552 7119 22.3 (20.7) 5068 72.7
Sex              
 Male 21,861 22.9 19,885 2674 14.6 2088 81.2 26.5 21,095 4595 23.6 3353 74.4
 Female 14,036 29.3 12,066 1882 16.8 1230 69.6 23.9 13,457 2524 20.4 1715 69.7
Age on 9/11              
 18–24 1775 26.6 1485 168 11.7 95 58.6 12.1 1750 181 10.8 131 72.4
 25–44 18,830 26.1 16,748 2576 16.3 1831 74.8 24.9 18,285 3870 22.5 2822 74.1
 45–64 14,412 24.5 12,920 1739 14.9 1338 80.7 28.1 13,687 2945 23.9 2043 71.3
 65+ 880 20.7 798 73 11.0 54 79.4 23.9 830 123 18.2 72 62.1
Race/ethnicity              
 White 25,160 23.4 22,560 2955 14.0 2096 74.6 26.1 24,123 5128 22.7 3639 72.3
 Black/African American 3483 27.8 3035 445 16.1 349 81.4 21.1 3387 566 18.6 382 70.0
 Hispanic/Latino 4064 34.8 3471 709 22.5 561 82.1 27.8 3947 900 25.4 684 77.8
 Asian 1951 25.1 1791 266 17.3 184 72.4 19.5 1903 278 17.1 181 66.8
 Other 1239 28.6 1094 181 18.2 128 78.1 26.6 1192 247 23.4 182 75.5
Education (at Wave 1)              
 Less than high school 7450 27.8 6704 1132 18.8 933 86.1 30.0 7206 1763 27.3 1313 77.3
 At least some college 8821 27.1 7891 1301 17.8 1034 83.1 29.7 8505 2110 26.9 1560 75.3
 College or higher 19,347 23.7 17,105 2084 13.0 1319 66.8 22.0 18,572 3199 18.5 2162 68.6
Income (at W1)              
 Less than $25,000 2681 32.4 2343 441 21.3 337 82.4 24.2 2609 494 21.8 370 78.7
 $25,000 - $74,999 13,408 26.6 11,901 1820 16.6 1346 77.5 25.7 12,908 2673 22.5 1921 73.4
 $75,000 - $150,000 12,303 24.5 11,057 1594 15.4 1157 75.6 27.4 11,842 2711 24.4 1937 72.8
 $150,000 or more 4048 21.0 3556 314 9.4 196 66.4 20.4 3882 614 16.8 417 68.7
Smoking status (wave 1)              
 Never 20,375 25.4 18,107 2565 15.3 1782 73.6 24.1 19,711 3881 21.3 2746 72.1
 Former 10,270 25.4 9148 1296 15.4 973 78.2 28.3 9768 2177 24.3 1532 72.2
 Current 5022 25.2 4497 659 15.8 537 83.9 25.6 4854 1020 22.8 761 76.2
Self identified              
 Yes 26,806 27.2 23,749 3772 17.1 2744 76.4 27.4 25,770 5782 24.3 4163 73.4
 No 9091 19.9 8202 784 10.4 574 76.8 19.8 8782 1337 16.7 905 69.6
Registry eligibility group              
 Rescue/recovery worker 16,898 26.2 15,327 2579 18.1 2016 81.6 30.9 16,324 4290 28.3 3153 75.1
 Lower Manhattan area resident 4847 24.7 4255 511 13.2 327 68.3 19.7 4680 701 16.5 462 67.3
 Lower Manhattan area worker/student 12,517 24.1 10,964 1264 12.5 843 70.4 20.7 11,987 1862 16.9 1265 69.5
 Passerby 1400 28.5 1202 175 15.8 116 70.3 21.3 1338 214 17.3 152 71.7
Dust cloud exposure              
 Yes 18,677 27.8 16,526 2683 17.6 2008 78.1 27.4 17,974 4006 24.3 2917 74.4
 No 17,070 22.7 15,298 1860 13.1 1298 74.0 23.5 16,433 3090 20.3 2134 70.6
Rescue/recovery workers and volunteers              
 Duration of R/R work              
 1–7 days 5800 25.0 5120 680 14.3 482 74.6 25.5 5576 1152 22.3 806 71.7
 8–30 days 5155 24.6 4740 781 17.6 614 82.1 31.9 4969 1356 29.1 1007 75.6
 31–90 days 2799 28.9 2586 542 22.6 446 85.1 37.2 2730 906 35.5 679 76.4
 >90 days 2523 30.1 2336 517 24.0 430 86.2 35.5 2456 756 33.6 582 78.7
Date of arrival for R/R work              
 9/11 on pile 2536 33.7 2400 666 29.7 567 88.3 48.8 2467 1100 47.3 865 79.7
 9/11, other site 2371 28.9 2120 391 19.8 313 82.6 31.8 2297 626 29.4 457 74.3
 9/12–9/17 6671 26.1 6049 1006 17.9 773 80.0 30.7 6468 1696 28.3 1248 75.7
 9/18 or later 4702 21.3 4215 454 11.6 317 74.1 21.8 4501 752 18.0 508 68.7
  1. GERD gastroesophageal reflux disease
  2. GERS gastroesophageal reflux symptoms
  3. LRS lower respiratory symptoms
  4. aProportion of adult W4 participants who reported clinician-diagnosed asthma at Wave 1 or 4
  5. bAge adjusted to the 2010 United States Census
  6. cAsthma diagnosed after 9/11/2001 reported at Wave 1 or 4. Denominator is number of participants without pre-9/11 asthma
  7. dPersistent LRS defined as cough, wheeze, or shortness of breath for at least 8 of the 30 days preceding Wave 4 completion, or use of a prescription inhaler
  8. eProportion of adult W4 participants who reported clinician-diagnosed GERD at Wave 4
  9. fGERD diagnosed in 2002 or later as reported on Wave 4. Denominator is number of participants without pre-9/11 GERD
  10. gFrequent GERS at Wave 4 defined as heartburn or acid reflux reported at least weekly during the year before survey completion
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Environmental Health

ISSN: 1476-069X