Table 2 Demographic and baseline pulmonary function among tea workers engaged in different processes
| Â | Withering (N = 13) | Withering+Panning (N = 35) | Withering+Panning+Ball-Rolling (N = 19) | Ball-Rolling (N = 22) | p* |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Age (year)* (mean ± SD) | 43.7 ± 13.5 | 43.3 ± 9.6 | 38.8 ± 9.9 | 35.7 ± 7.9 | 0.02 |
Height (cm) (mean ± SD) | 166.8 ± 5.9 | 166.1 ± 6.5 | 168.2 ± 6.4 | 169.9 ± 5.9 | 0.15 |
Weight (kg) (mean ± SD) | 68.6 ± 11.1 | 65.2 ± 7.2 | 68.3 ± 7.9 | 68.1 ± 7.5 | 0.39 |
Education level | Â | Â | Â | Â | 0.26 |
   Elementary | 4 (30.8%) | 8 (22.9%) | 4 (21.1%) | 1 (4.5%) |  |
   Junior high | 2 (15.4%) | 11 (31.4%) | 4 (21.1%) | 10 (45.5%) |  |
   Senior high | 7 (53.8%) | 16 (45.7%) | 10 (52.6%) | 11 (50.0%) |  |
   University | 0 (0.0%) | 0 (0.0%) | 1 (5.2%) | 0 (0.0%) |  |
Race | Â | Â | Â | Â | 0.59 |
   Han | 11 (84.6%) | 31 (88.6%) | 19 (100.0%) | 20 (90.9%) |  |
   Aboriginal | 2 (15.4%) | 3 (8.6%) | 0 (0.0%) | 2 (9.1%) |  |
   Hakka | 0 (0.0%) | 1 (2.8%) | 0 (0.0%) | 0 (0.0%) |  |
Smoking | Â | Â | Â | Â | 0.08 |
   Never | 8 (61.5%) | 10 (28.6%) | 6 (31.6%) | 6 (27.3%) |  |
   Ex-smoker | 2 (15.4%) | 10 (28.6%) | 3 (15.8%) | 1 (4.5%) |  |
   Current | 3 (23.1%) | 15 (42.8%) | 10 (52.6%) | 15 (68.2%) |  |
Tea-drinking | Â | Â | Â | Â | 0.93 |
   Never | 0 (0.0%) | 1 (2.9%) | 1 (5.3%) | 1 (4.5%) |  |
   Occasional | 3 (23.1%) | 7 (20.0%) | 5 (26.3%) | 7 (31.8%) |  |
   Habitual | 10 (76.9%) | 27 (77.1%) | 13 (68.4%) | 14 (63.7%) |  |
Baseline pulmonary function†|  |  |  |  |  |
   FVC (L) (mean ± SD) | 3.81 ± 0.57 | 3.89 ± 0.61 | 4.23 ± 0.75 | 4.24 ± 0.69 | 0.08 |
   FVC (%pred‡) (mean ± SD) | 87.72 ± 8.10 | 88.59 ± 10.57 | 90.91 ± 10.96 | 88.59 ± 11.12 | 0.82 |
   FEV1 (L) (mean ± SD) | 3.49 ± 0.47 | 3.57 ± 0.57 | 3.84 ± 0.75 | 3.69 ± 0.65 | 0.34 |
   FEV1(%pred) (mean ± SD) | 98.25 ± 9.80 | 98.38 ± 12.64 | 99.53 ± 13.51 | 92.63 ± 12.34 | 0.26 |
   FEV1/FVC (mean ± SD) | 91.98 ± 2.05 | 91.74 ± 4.60 | 90.79 ± 4.57 | 86.94 ± 4.98 | < 0.01 |
   MMF (L/S) (mean ± SD) | 4.97 ± 0.79 | 4.85 ± 1.19 | 5.28 ± 1.44 | 4.63 ± 1.47 | 0.44 |
   MMF (%pred) (mean ± SD) | 133.42 ± 20.0 | 125.79 ± 3 0.9 | 128.21 ± 30.5 | 108.32 ± 30.7 | 0.05 |