Environmental Sensitivities: Prevalence of Major Symptoms in a Referral Center: The Nova Scotia Environmental Sensitivities Research Center Study

Environmental Health Perspectives, Feb, 2001 by Michel R. Joffres, Tim Williams, Brenda Sabo, Roy A. Fox

For all the other systems (separate analysis), there were no major differences in the ranking of the first five symptoms between men and women. In the nervous system section, men ranked "irritability" higher than did women and "trouble staying asleep" lower. "Constipation and bloating of stomach" were ranked higher among women than among men, whereas "heartburn" showed the opposite pattern.

Different patterns were seen after exposure, with some noticeable differences in ranking and in mean between sexes. For all systems, "stronger sense of smell" was ranked highest for both men and women. "Trouble seeing at night" was ranked second among women but ranked very low among men (84th). On the other hand, men ranked the following higher than did women: "dark coloring of finger tips" (2nd), "bed wetting" (3rd), "trouble staying asleep" (4th), "snoring or snorting during sleep" (5th), "having to get up at night to urinate" (6th), and "joint swelling" (7th) (not all variables shown in Table 2). Although there were differences in ranking between men and women for each system (separate analysis), there was an overall consistency in ranking.

Table 4 displays global mean symptom scores, by sex, for selected demographic variables. Mean score peaked in the 30-39 age group for both men and women. For all age groups men had lower mean scores than women and a global mean score much lower than that of women (2.0 vs. 2.7, p = 0.0002 after adjusting for age). Men and women who were separated/divorced or in the lower income categories had higher mean scores than the other groups (p [is less than] 0.05).

Table 4. Global mean symptoms scores by selected demographic
characteristics among individuals with ES.

                         Both          Males         Females

Characteristics          Mean    SE    Mean    SE    Mean    SE

Age (years)
 0-9                      1.3   0.23    1.2   0.32    1.4   0.37
 10-19                    1.4   0.15    1.2   0.14    1.6   0.26
 20-29                    2.1   0.31     -      -     2.1   0.31
 30-39                    3.1   0.16    2.9   0.48    3.1   0.16
 40-49                    2.7   0.12    2.2   0.26    2.8   0.14
 50-59                    2.5   0.13    1.9   0.51    2.6   0.13
 60                       2.1   0.19    1.4   0.36    2.2   0.20
 All                      2.5   0.07    2.0   0.16    2.7   0.08
Marital status
 Never married            2.5   0.17    2.0   0.33    2.7   0.20
 Married or common-law    2.5   0.09    2.0   0.22    2.6   0.09
 Separated/divorced/
  widowed                 2.9   0.18    2.5   0.26    2.9   0.19
 Other                    1.1   0.16    1.3   0.13    0.8   0.26
Education
 Up to some secondary/
  high school             2.2   0.23    1.7   0.42    2.5   0.26
 University degree(a)     2.5   0.10    2.0   0.22    2.6   0.11
 Completed secondary/
  high school             2.4   0.19    2.2   0.37    2.5   0.23
 College or diplomas      2.8   0.12    2.4   0.34    2.9   0.13
Household income
 < $20,000                3.0   0.17    2.7   0.44    3.1   0.17
 $20,000-$39,999          2.7   0.13    2.3   0.48    2.8   0.13
 $40,000                  2.3   0.11    1.8   0.22    2.4   0.11
No response               2.5   0.18    1.8   0.23    2.7   0.18

(a) Undergraduate or graduate level.