Results were given in kU/l and subdivided into classes from zero to six. According to the literature (Pastorello et al. 1992; San Martín Ciges et al. 1998; Cantani 2008), CAP Class 0 is absent or undetectable (<0.35 kU/l), but the Class 1 is slightly elevated in terms of kU/l
(≥0.35 and <0.70 kU/l); Class 1 was accurate threshold for atopy. Therefore, CAP Class ≥1 was used as positive in the current study. Study population Baseline self-administered questionnaire survey and CAP test were performed on all 4th grade medical students enrolled at the School of Medicine, University of Fukui in every April from 1993 to 1996 and from 1999 to 2001. CAP test was conducted on the blood of the respondents to our baseline questionnaire. In total, of the 702 subjects, 548 (78.1%, 352 men and 196 women) filled
in the questionnaire. Of the 548 respondents, age was selleck chemicals distributed 21–40 years Selleckchem GDC-0994 and mean age ± SD was 23.2 ± 2.9. Current smokers were 86 (24.4%) for men and 9 (4.6%) for women, lower than results of The National Health and Nutrition Survey in Japan (Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare of Japan, 2003) for Japanese general population of 20–29 years (55.8% for men and 19.0% for women). Of the 548 subjects who responded to the baseline questionnaire, Adriamycin cost 415 (75.7%, 263 men and 152 women) had CAP test. We compared the characteristics between participants and non-participants for the CAP test. With respect to gender, age, personal history of allergic diseases, and smoking status, there were no significant differences between both groups. In May 2004, the follow-up questionnaires were sent by ADAM7 post to 548 subjects who had answered our baseline questionnaire. Based on the mail survey implementation procedure (Dillman 2000), an initial
‘warm contact’ letter and a business reply envelope were attached to a hard copy questionnaire. If necessary, next replacement questionnaire and a final reminder letter were subsequently sent over the next 4–8 weeks. Finally, 263/548 (48.0%) were filled in and returned to us. Having excluded the respondents who had failed on the National Examination for Medical Practitioners, we evaluated 261 eligible respondents (47.6%, 162 men and 99 women, aged 24–44 years). The response rates to follow-up questionnaire did not differ greatly (mean ± SD was 37.5 ± 6.7%) among all students in each year’s baseline questionnaire surveys. We compared the characteristics between respondents and non-respondents to the follow-up study. With respect to gender, age, and personal history of allergic diseases, there were no significant differences between respondent and non-respondent group. Percentage of current or ex-smoker were significantly higher (p = 0.006) among non-respondents (29.3%) than respondents (19.2%).