Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2009, 6 699 such as Montréal (Table 3). Similarly, higher percentages of respondents using this technology were observed for those individuals who considered their region of residence to be less prone to winter smog, ice storms or cold waves. Using a remote car starter in winter was more frequent among respondents who consulted the meteorological information (temperature, intense cold warning, and humidity rate) in the media, than for the other participants consulting it rarely or never. Table 2. Sociodemographic characteristics of the respondents: percentages corrected for stratified sampling, and coefficients of variation. First language learned at home % 1 CV 2 Variables Gender Women 51.6 0.02 Men 48.3 0.02 Age 18 to 34 years 29.1 0.03 35 to 64 years 54.6 0.02 65 years or more 16.2 0.05 French only 81.0 0.01 English only 6.1 0.09 Language other than French or English 10.1 0.15 English or French plus another language 2.9 0.08 Status of activities (last 12 months) Employed 67.0 0.02 Unemployed 8.4 0.07 Student 3.4 0.15 Retired 21.8 0.04 Income (before tax/from all Less than $ 15 000 9.3 0.07 sources/last 12 months) Between $ 15 000 and $ 29 999 17.2 0.05 Between $ 30 000 and $ 44 999 17.8 0.05 Between $ 45 000 and $ 59 999 14.1 0.05 $ 60 000 and or more 26.2 0.03 Undisclosed 3 15.2 0.05 Lived alone Yes 18.2 0.04 No 81.8 0.01 Region of residence Eastern Québec 5.7 0.02 Northern part of southern Québec 5.9 0.02 Québec City region 14.6 0.01 Centre of the province 6.4 0.02 South of Montréal 21.1 0.01 North of Montréal 15.7 0.01 Montréal and Laval 30.8 0.01 Type of dwelling House 64.9 0.01 Apartment: ≤ 4 storeys 31.1 0.03 Apartment: ≥ 5 storeys 3.9 0.11 1 %: percentages. The total percentages for a given variable may not be exactly 100%, due to rounding to the closest decimal. To simplify the presentation, percentages below 2% for missing data have not been reported. 2 CV: coefficients of variation. CV < 15%: sufficiently precise estimates; CV between 15% and 25%: acceptable precision, estimates to be carefully interpreted; CV > 25%: low precision, estimates to be interpreted with circumspection. 3 These participants, compared to those who disclosed their income strata, were more often women, individuals at least 65 years of age, and retired people.