Volume 30, Number 10—October 2024
CME ACTIVITY - Research
Age- and Sex-Specific Differences in Lyme Disease Health-Related Behaviors, Ontario, Canada, 2015–2022
, Victoria Osasah, Katherine Paphitis, Affan Danish, Richard G. Mather, Curtis A. Russell, Jennifer Pritchard, and Mark P. Nelder
Table 3
Specific risk factors and preventive behaviors reported by Lyme disease case-patients, by sex, Ontario, Canada, 2015–2022*
| Exposure activities | No. (%) cases |
Crude OR (95% CI)† | p value‡ | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | Female | Male | |||
| Risk factors | |||||
| Participated in activities in wooded or tall grass areas§ | |||||
| N | 507 | 282 (55.6) | 225 (44.4) | 1.77 (1.47–2.13) | <0.001 |
| Y | 4,430 | 1,835 (41.4) | 2,595 (58.6) | ||
| Recalled finding tick or tick bite on self | |||||
| N | 652 | 301 (46.2) | 351 (53.8) | 1.18 (1.00–1.39) | 0.05 |
| Y | 4,020 | 1,691 (42.1) | 2,329 (57.9) | ||
| Contacted outdoor dog or cat that shared bed or living space | |||||
| N | 2,062 | 864 (41.9) | 1,198 (58.1) | 0.82 (0.72–0.94) | 0.004 |
| Y |
1,486 |
696 (46.8) |
790 (53.2) |
||
| Preventive behaviors | |||||
| Checked for ticks after being outdoors in wooded or tall grass areas | |||||
| N | 2,650 | 1,107 (41.8) | 1,543 (58.2) | 0.88 (0.77–1.01) | 0.07 |
| Y | 1,265 | 567 (44.8) | 698 (55.2) | ||
| Used insect repellant when outdoors in wooded or tall grass areas | |||||
| N | 2,805 | 1,187 (42.3) | 1,618 (57.7) | 0.89 (0.77–1.03) | 0.12 |
| Y | 958 | 433 (45.2) | 525 (54.8) | ||
| Used adequate clothing protection in wooded or tall grass areas¶ | |||||
| N | 2,704 | 1,128 (41.7) | 1,576 (58.3) | 0.87 (0.76–1.01) | 0.07 |
| Y | 1,046 | 471 (45.0) | 575 (55.0) | ||
*Case-patients were queried on risk factors and preventive behaviors in the 30 d before illness onset. A low percentage of case-patients provided responses to queries on risk factors (46%–64%) and preventive behaviors (48%–50%). OR, odds ratio. †Reference group used in OR calculations is female case-patients. ‡χ2 test; p<0.05 represents a statistically significant relationship between risk factor/preventive behavior and sex. §For activities in wooded or tall grass areas, case-patients were asked about specific activities such as hiking, camping, or hunting. ¶Adequate clothing included long sleeves, long pants, and covered shoes.