Hi, pls help! Let me know if you need more info! a. Describe how the authors may have assessed whether urban or rural re

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Hi, pls help! Let me know if you need more info!
a. Describe how the authors may have assessed whether urban orrural residence was an effectmodifier of the relationship between distance to amajor road and chronic cough. If urban/rural residence was aneffect modifier, what odds ratio(s) should have been presented inthe article to measure the strength of the relationship betweendistance to a major road and chronic cough?
Potential Confounders and Effect Modifiers:
Current cigarette smoking was the strongest risk factorfor respiratory symptoms, with ORs in the range of 5–7.Occupational dust exposure was associated with an approximately2-fold elevated risk (Table 3). The OR for each symptomincreased based on the number of cigarettes smoked per day, anddecreased depending on the number of years of smoking cessation(details not shown). Alternative regression models that includednumber of cigarettes smoked daily and years since quitting smokingdid not substantially influence the relationship between distancefrom a major roadway and the odds of each respiratory symptom.Analyses conducted in never-smokers, adjusted for age andoccupational dust exposure, resulted in an OR of 2.08 (95% CI =1.02– 4.22; Table 4) for persistent wheeze for subjects livingwithin 50 m of a major roadway. The equivalent ORs for former andcurrent smokers were lower (Table 4). These results suggest thatnever-smokers might have a greater risk of persistent wheezeassociated with living within 50 m of a roadway.
Analyses were also conducted in subjects with and withoutoccupational dust exposure, adjusting for age and smoking (data notshown). The OR for persistent wheeze in subjects with occupationaldust exposure and living within 50 m of a roadway was 1.44 (95% CI= 1.04 – 2.11). This was slightly greater than those without dustexposure (OR = 1.11; 95% CI = 0.75– 1.65). Dust intensity, type ofdust, duration of dust exposure, and time since last dust exposurewere also considered as confounders. These variables did not changethe relationship between each respiratory symptom, distance from aroadway, and traffic volume. Indicators of socioeconomic statusadded separately as continuous variables to the main regressionmodel were not significant predictors of persistent wheeze orchronic phlegm. Subjects with lower socioeconomic status were morelikely to report chronic cough (data not shown). However, thesevariables did not change the association of chronic cough withresidence near a roadway. There was also no evidence of confoundingor effect modification by educational attainment, job category, andurban or rural residence.