Characteristics of the participants in the longitudinal lung study of cement production workers at inclusion and follow-up, by country
| All | Estonia | Greece | Italy | Norway | Spain | Sweden | Switzerland | Turkey | |
| At inclusion | |||||||||
| Worker and plant overview | |||||||||
| Plants | 24 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 9 |
| Employees | 4966 | 181 | 112 | 642 | 288 | 340 | 355 | 110 | 2938 |
| Females | 327 | 87 | 8 | 15 | 46 | 12 | 32 | 2 | 125 |
| Males | 4639 | 94 | 104 | 627 | 242 | 328 | 323 | 108 | 2813 |
| Age at inclusion years | 36.4±14.3 | 27.4±22.7 | 38.0±9.1 | 38.2±16.7 | 40.9±15.9 | 45.9±11.0 | 45.3±13.4 | 43.5±12.5 | 33.6±12.1 |
| Job type | |||||||||
| Administration | 705 | 18 | 21 | 61 | 36 | 41 | 43 | 20 | 465 |
| Production | 1645 | 83 | 40 | 171 | 88 | 138 | 116 | 28 | 981 |
| Cleaning | 105 | 18 | 1 | 49 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 1 | 21 |
| Maintenance | 1316 | 4 | 32 | 169 | 75 | 80 | 103 | 35 | 818 |
| Foreman | 74 | 8 | 1 | 12 | 3 | 11 | 6 | 0 | 33 |
| Laboratory | 284 | 3 | 6 | 52 | 18 | 10 | 10 | 5 | 180 |
| Other | 618 | 15 | 11 | 112 | 10 | 45 | 29 | 5 | 391 |
| Multiple job types | 219 | 32 | 0 | 16 | 53 | 10 | 43 | 16 | 49 |
| Previous exposure# | |||||||||
| No | 2536 | 29 | 27 | 316 | 117 | 146 | 64 | 51 | 1786 |
| Yes | 2430 | 152 | 85 | 326 | 171 | 194 | 291 | 59 | 1152 |
| Smoking | |||||||||
| Never smoker % | 39.8 | 24.9 | 39.3 | 43.0 | 43.4 | 32.0 | 53.8 | 36.4 | 39.0 |
| Former smoker % | 9.3 | 7.2 | 6.2 | 15.0 | 18.8 | 26.8 | 22.0 | 17.3 | 3.5 |
| Current smoker % | 19.8 | 35.4 | 25.9 | 15.1 | 16.3 | 15.6 | 7.6 | 20.0 | 22.1 |
| Smoker unspecified % | 31.1 | 32.5 | 28.6 | 26.9 | 21.5 | 25.6 | 16.6 | 26.3 | 35.4 |
| Cumulative pack-years | 9.3±13 | 9.9±11 | 15±20 | 10±14 | 8.0±11 | 16±20 | 7.6±12 | 14±19 | 8.1±11 |
| Follow-up | |||||||||
| Lung volume measurements | |||||||||
| Three occasions¶ | 2201 | 58 | 83 | 211 | 143 | 123 | 209 | 59 | 1315 |
| Two occasions | 1338 | 29 | 20 | 231 | 77 | 99 | 70 | 31 | 781 |
| One occasion | 1427 | 97 | 9 | 200 | 68 | 118 | 176 | 20 | 842 |
| Follow-up time years | 3.46±0.9 | 3.26±1.0 | 3.07±0.7 | 3.32±1.0 | 3.67±0.8 | 3.62±0.9 | 3.68±0.6 | 3.50±0.9 | 3.45±0.9 |
| Smoking during follow-up | |||||||||
| Pack-years per year among smokers | 0.6±0.5 | 0.54±0.4 | 0.92±0.6 | 0.68±0.5 | 0.47±0.4 | 0.68±0.5 | 0.53±0.4 | 0.75±0.6 | 0.61±0.4 |
Data are presented as n or arithmetic mean±sd, unless otherwise stated. Individual follow-up time varied from 0.7–4.6 years (mean 3.46 years). #: Previous occupational exposure to dust or gases for more than a year; ¶: each occasion consists of 3–8 maximum forced expiratory exhalation manoeuvres.