Table 1

Prevalence of respiratory alarm symptoms by gender, age, smoking status, alcohol intake and body mass index

	Total study sample	At least one respiratory alarm symptom				Prolonged coughing				Shortness of breath				Coughing up blood				Prolonged hoarseness
	N	n	Per cent	95% CI	p Value*	N	Per cent	95% CI	p Value*	n	Per cent	95% CI	p Value*	n	Per cent	95% CI	p Value†	N	Per cent	95% CI	p Value*
Total	49 706	7 870	16.0	15.7 to 16.3		4 180	8.5	8.2 to 8.7		3 960	8.0	7.8 to 8.3		62	0.1	0.1 to 0.2		1694	3.4	3.3 to 3.6
Gender					<0.001				<0.001				0.043				0.001				0.296
Men	23 240	3 978	16.9	16.4 to 17.4		2 095	9.1	8.7 to 9.5		1 912	8.3	8.0 to 8.7		42	0.2	0.1 to 0.2		813	3.5	3.3 to 3.8
Women	26 466	3 892	15.2	14.7 to 15.6		2 085	8.0	7.6 to 8.3		2 048	7.8	7.5 to 8.1		20	0.1	0.05 to 0.1		881	3.4	3.1 to 2.6
Age (years)					<0.001				<0.001				<0.001				0.842				<0.001
20–39	12 251	1 643	13.5	12.9 to 14.2		813	6.7	6.3 to 7.2		880	7.3	6.8 to 7.7		18	0.2	0.1 to 0.2		303	2.5	2.2 to 2.8
40–59	20 305	2 794	13.9	13.4 to 14.3		1 452	7.2	6.8 to 7.6		1 423	7.1	6.7 to 7.4		23	0.1	0.1 to 0.2		519	2.6	2.4 to 2.8
60–79	15 748	3 044	19.5	18.9 to 20.2		1 696	10.9	10.4 to 11.4		1 457	9.4	8.9 to 9.8		23	0.1	0.1 to 0.2		750	4.8	4.5 to 5.2
>80	1402	389	28.8	26.4 to 31.3		219	16.2	14.3 to 18.3		200	14.8	12.9 to 16.8		1	0.1	0.001 to 0.4		122	9.0	7.5 to 10.7
Smoking status‡					<0.001				<0.001				<0.001				0.092				<0.001
Never	21 895	2 480	11.3	10.9 to 11.8		1 262	5.8	5.5 to 6.1		1 224	5.6	5.3 to 5.9		19	0.1	0.1 to 0.1		567	2.6	2.4 to 2.8
Former	15 529	2488	16.0	15.4 to 16.6		1 097	7.1	6.7 to 7.5		1 387	8.9	8.5 to 9.4		20	0.1	0.1 to 0.2		617	4.0	3.7 to 4.3
Current	10 300	2 519	24.5	23.6 to 25.3		1 635	15.9	15.2 to 16.6		1 131	11.0	10.4 to 11.6		18	0.2	0.1 to 0.3		430	4.2	3.8 to 4.6
Alcohol intake (units/week)‡					<0.001				<0.001				<0.001				0.404				<0.001
0	3668	813	22.2	20.8 to 23.5		409	11.2	10.1 to 12.2		489	13.3	12.2 to 14.5		7	0.2	0.1 to 0.4		167	4.6	3.9 to 5.3
1–7	31 607	4 436	14.0	13.7 to 14.4		2 290	7.3	7.0 to 7.5		2 258	7.1	6.9 to 7.4		34	0.1	0.1 to 0.2		993	3.1	3.0 to 3.3
8–21	10 708	1 828	17.1	16.4 to 17.8		1 043	9.7	9.2 to 10.3		820	7.7	7.2 to 8.2		13	0.1	0.1 to 0.2		375	3.5	3.2 to 3.9
≥22	1729	409	23.7	21.7 to 25.7		251	14.5	12.9 to 16.3		174	10.1	8.7 to 11.6		3	0.2	0.04 to 0.5		79	4.6	3.6 to 5.7
Body mass index‡					<0.001				<0.001				<0.001				0.481				<0.001
Underweight (<18.5)	756	154	20.4	17.6 to 23.4		88	11.6	9.4 to 14.1		79	10.5	8.4 to 12.9		1	0.1	0.003 to 0.7		43	5.7	4.1 to 7.6
Normal (18.5–24.9)	23 168	3214	13.9	13.4 to 14.3		1 731	7.5	7.0 to 7.8		1 494	6.5	6.1 to 2.8		25	0.1	0.07 to 0.2		734	3.2	2.9 to 3.4
Overweight (25–29.9)	16 668	2644	15.9	15.3 to 16.4		1 409	8.5	8.0 to 8.9		1 297	7.8	7.4 to 8.2		19	0.1	0.07 to 0.2		556	3.3	3.1 to 3.6
Obese (≥30)	6990	1435	20.5	19.6 to 21.5		737	10.5	9.8 to 11.3		855	12.2	11.5 to 13.0		12	0.2	0.01 to 0.3		273	3.9	3.5 to 4.4

*Tested for difference between groups with χ² test, statistical significance p<0.05.
†Tested for difference between groups with Fisher’s exact test, statistical significance p<0.05.
‡Total numbers for each group may not add to full sample due to missing data.