Comparison of sputum diffential cell counts between ice hockey players and control subjects
| Ice hockey players | Control subjects | p‐value# | |
| Subjects n | 68 | 18 | |
| Total cell count 103·mg−1 | 5.1 (0.6–24.5) | 4.6 (0.1–14.6) | ns |
| Eosinophils | 2.6 (0–64.7) | 0.2 (0–1.3) | 0.039 |
| Neutrophils | 80.9 (17.9–98.8) | 29.9 (0.5–86.2) | <0.001 |
| Lymphocytes | 0.5 (0–3.7) | 0.6 (0–1.5) | 0.35 |
| Macrophages | 15.8 (0.9–85.5) | 66.2 (13.2–99.5) | <0.001 |
| Bronchial epithelial cells | 0.3 (0–5.9) | 0.2 (0–2.6) | 0.67 |
Data are presented as mean (range) unless otherwise stated
ns: nonsignificant
#: Mann-Whitney U‐test