Saliva as a non-invasive specimen for COPD assessment

Respiratory Research

Table 1 Sociodemographic, anthropometric and clinical characteristics of participants included in the study

Characteristics	COPD (n = 70)	HEALTHY (n = 58)	p-value
Age (years), mean ± SD	67.9 ± 8.7	67.0 ± 8.2	0.7
Male sex, n (%)	60 (86%)	42 (84%)	0.8
BMI (kg/m²), mean ± SD	25.5 ± 3.5	27.6 ± 3.8	0.001
Pack-years, mean ± SD	42.2 ± 45.3	8 ± 21.0	< 0.0001
CCI, mean ± SD	3.7 ± 1.3	2.0 ± 1.0	< 0.0001
Medication for COPD, n (%)	70 (100%)	0 (0%)
Smoking status, n (%)
Current smoker	7 (10%)	2 (4%)	< 0.0001
Former smoker	49 (70%)	10 (20%)
Never smoker	14 (20%)	38 (76%)
GOLD Grade, n (%)
1	7 (10%)	n.a
2	25 (36%)	n.a
3	26 (37%)	n.a
4	12 (17%)	n.a
GOLD Group, n (%)
A	12 (17%)	n.a
B	32 (46%)	n.a
C	5 (7%)	n.a
D	21 (30%)	n.a
Long-term oxygen dependence, n (%)	11 (16%)	0 (0)
SpO₂, mean ± SD (%)	94.4 ± 1.9	96.7 ± 1.7	< 0.0001
FEV₁ (L)	1.3 ± 0.4	2.8 ± 0.6	< 0.0001
FEV₁pp, mean ± SD	48.0 ± 16.4	103.0 ± 16.7	< 0.0001
FVC (L)	2.7 ± 0.6	3.4 ± 0.7	< 0.0001
Ratio FEV₁FVC	48.7 ± 12.1	83.8 ± 8.7	< 0.0001
Number of exacerbations in the year before enrolment, n (%)
0–1	49 (70%)	n.a
≥ 2 or 1 with hospital admission	21 (30%)	n.a
Hospital admissions due to COPD, in the year before enrolment, n (%)
0	60 (86%)	n.a
1	10 (14%)	n.a

Comparisons between people with COPD and Healthy controls were conducted with unpaired t-test with Welch’s correction, Mann–Whitney U-test and Fisher’s exact test. n (%): number of individuals in each group plus the corresponding percentage. mean±SD: mean±standard deviation. CCI: Charlson Comorbidity Index; BMI: Body Mass Index; GOLD Grade: 3—Severe; 4—Very Severe; GOLD Group: A—Less symptoms and low risk of exacerbations; B—More symptoms and low risk of exacerbations; C– Less symptoms and high risk of exacerbations; D—More symptoms and high risk of exacerbations; FEV1pp: forced expiratory volume in 1 second percentage of predicted; SpO2: peripheral capillary oxygen saturation. Comparisons between patients with COPD and Healthy controls were conducted with unpaired t-test with Welch’s correction, Mann-Whitney U-test and Fisher’s exact test

ISSN: 1465-993X