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Table 1 Patient characteristics

From: Serum sST2 levels predict severe exacerbation of asthma

 

Stable

At-risk

P-value*†

(N = 93)

(N = 11)

 

Age, mean (SD)

52.7 (15.4)

51.7 (19.4)

0.852

Sex, M: F, n (%)

39 (42.0): 54 (58.0)

3 (27.3): 8 (72.7)

0.540

BMI, median (IQR)

22.9 (20.6–26.9)

24.6 (21.8–30.1)

0.089

Smoking, n (%)

 Current-smoker

8 (8.6)

2 (18.2)

0.454

 Ex-smoker

27 (29.0)

4 (36.4)

 

 Never-smoker

58 (62.4)

5 (45.4)

 

Asthma control, n (%)

 Well controlled

29 (31.2)

1 (9.1)

< 0.001

 Partially controlled

51 (54.8)

2 (18.2)

 

 Uncontrolled

13 (14.0)

8 (72.7)

 

Treatment step, n (%)

 1

4 (4.3)

0 (0.0)

0.008

 2

14 (15.1)

0 (0.0)

 

 3

20 (21.5)

0 (0.0)

 

 4

49 (52.7)

7 (63.6)

 

 5

6 (6.4)

4 (36.4)

 

 Oral CS use, n (%)

6 (6.5)

4 (36.4)

0.011

Laboratory tests

 WBC (/μL), median (IQR)

6300 (5000–7200)

10,500 (6700–12,100)

< 0.001

 Neutrophil (/μL), median (IQR)

3618 (2745–4772)

8159 (3953–9196)

< 0.001

 Eosinophil (/μL), median (IQR)

201 (128–334)

79 (32–303)

0.029

 CRP (mg/dl), median (IQR)

0.1 (0–0.2)

0.1 (0–0.5)

0.208

 IgE (IU/ml), median (IQR)

188 (45–533)

185 (12–1539)

0.841

 IL-8 (pg/ml), median (IQR)

13.1 (10.6–16.9)

16.0 (9.6–22.6)

0.612

 IL-6 (pg/ml), median (IQR)

1.0 (0.5–1.7)

2.4 (1.2–3.7)

0.035

 Serum H2O2 (U.CARR), median (IQR)

336 (302–380)

379 (350–421)

0.025

 FeNO (ppb), median (IQR)

24 (16–42)

16 (11–99)

0.302

 EBC H2O2 (U.CARR), median (IQR)

0.5 (0.1–1.0)

0.5 (0.2–0.6)

0.687

Lung function tests

 VC (L), median (IQR)

3.1 (2.5–4.0)

2.8 (2.5–4.0)

0.067

 %VC (%), mean (SD)

107.4 (16.1)

94.5 (18.9)

0.016

 FVC (L), median (IQR)

3.0 (2.5–3.9)

2.5 (1.9–3.6)

0.067

 %FVC (%), mean (SD)

98.8 (15.6)

87.4 (18.7)

0.027

 FEV1 (L), median (IQR)

2.3 (1.8–2.9)

1.7 (1.3–2.9)

0.104

 %FEV1 (%), mean (SD)

89.6 (19.1)

80.1 (26.1)

0.135

 FEV1/FVC (%), median (IQR)

75.2 (68.4–81)

73.6 (64.3–83.4)

0.958

  1. *P-values for parametric, non-parametric, and categorical data were calculated using the Student’s t-test, Mann-Whitney test, and Chi-square test, respectively
  2. †Bold letters, P < 0.05
  3. BMI body mass index, Oral CS oral corticosteroid, WBC white blood cells, FeNO fractional exhaled nitric oxide, EBC exhaled breath condensate, SD standard deviation, IQR interquartile range