Table 1 Baseline participant characteristics
Characteristic | Measure | Sample population | Severe asthma with No Anxiety and/or Depression (severe asthma noAand/orD) | Severe asthma with Anxiety (severe asthma + A) | Severe asthma with Depression (severe asthma + D) | Severe asthma with both Anxiety and Depression (severe asthma + A&D) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Demographics | ||||||
 Sample number | n | 140 | 74 | 11 | 37 | 18 |
 Female | n (%) | 87 (62) | 39 (53) | 6 (55) | 27 (73) | 15 (83)✦* |
 Age | Years, median [Q1,Q3] | 59.3 [18.6, 82.3] | 60.5 [23.9, 78.8] | 68.5 [18.9, 76.2] | 52.8 ([8.6, 73.5] | 54.9 ([3.3, 82.3] |
 OCS daily use | ||||||
  Yes | n (%) | 40 (29) | 20 (27) | 5 (45) | 10 (27) | 5 (28) |
  No | 100 (71) | 54 (73) | 6 (54) | 27 (72) | 13 (72) | |
 OCS dose | mg/day | 14 (1, 50) | 11 (1, 50) | 19 (1, 50) | 15 (5, 25) | 21 (2, 30) |
 ICS dose | Beclomethasone equv. µg/day | 2000 (2000, 2000) | 2000 (2000, 2000) | 2000 (2000, 2000) | 2000 (2000, 2000) | 2000 (2000, 2000) |
 Total exacerbation past year | median, range | 3.1 (0, 15) | 2.5 (0, 12) | 3.5 (0, 15) | 4.4 (0, 14)✦* | 2.9 (0, 10) |
 Current antidepressant/anxiolytic use | n (%) | 33 (24) | 20 (27) | 4 (36) | 18 (49) | 3 (17) |
Pulmonary | ||||||
 Airflow limitation | FEV1% predicted, mean [95% CI] | 74.7 [71.2, 78.3] | 75.1 [70.3, 79.7] | 66.3 [48.8, 83.8] | 74.7 [67.5, 82.0] | 79.0 [68.7, 89.3] |
Post β2 FEV1/FVC %, mean [95% CI] | 85.0 [82.2, 87.7] | 86.8 [83.3, 90.3] | 75.9 [60.9, 90.9] | 83.4 [77.8, 89.0] | 86.1 [78.2, 94.1] | |
Post β2 FVC % predicted, mean [95% CI] | 68.0 [65.7, 70.2] | 66.5 [63.4, 69.6] | 66.9 [55.8, 78.1] | 69.4 [65.0, 73.7] | 71.8 [66.3, 77.4] | |
 Airway T2 high inflammation | FeNO (ppb), mean [95% CI] | 28.0 [22.2, 33.8] | 28.2 [20.2, 36.2] | 15.3 [7.3, 23.3] | 32.8 [20.0, 45.6] | 23.9 [3.9, 44.0] |
 Airway inflammation—eosinophilic | Sputum Eosinophils (%), mean [95% CI] | 8.6 [6.4, 10.8] | 9.5 [6.0, 13.0] | 4.6 [− 0.4, 9.6] | 8.4 [4.8, 12.0] | 7.4 [1.4, 13.3] |
 Airway inflammation—neutrophilic | Sputum Neutrophils (%), mean [95% CI] | 40.0 [35.5, 44.5] | 40.1 [34.2, 46.0] | 47.8 [30.3, 65.2] | 40.5 [30.3, 50.7] | 34.2 [20.0, 48.3] |
 Dyspnoea | MMRC Score, mean [95% CI] | 2.0 [1.8, 2.3] | 1.6 [1.3, 1.8] | 2.2 [1.2, 3.1] | 2.6 [2.2, 3.0]✦*** | 2.8 [2.2, 3.4]✦*** |
Extra pulmonary | ||||||
 Dysfunctional breathing | Nijmegen Score, mean [95% CI] | 22.6 [20.7, 24.6] | 18.6 [16.1, 21.0] | 25.1 [15.7, 34.5] | 25.9 [22.4, 29.4]✦* | 31.1 [26.6, 35.6]✦*** |
 Systemic inflammation | Hs-CRP (mg/L), mean [95% CI] | 6.9 [4.6, 9.3] | 3.5 [2.4, 4.6] | 17.8 [-9.7, 45.2] | 10.8 [6.0, 15.5]✦*** | 6.4 [2.7, 10.1] |
IL-6 (ng/mL), mean [95% CI] | 3.5 [2.7, 4.3] | 3.1 [2.3, 3.8] | 3.2 [0.9, 5.5] | 4.4 [2.5, 6.4] | 3.3 [0.5, 6.1] | |
Blood Eosinophils (× 109/L), mean [95% CI] | 0.3 [0.2, 0.3] | 0.3 [0.2, 0.3] | 0.3 [0.1, 0.4] | 0.3 [0.2, 0.4] | 0.4 [0.2, 0.6] | |
Blood Neutrophils (× 109/L), mean [95% CI] | 5.3 [4.9, 5.8] | 5.0 [4.5, 5.5] | 6.4 [3.8, 9.0] | 6.1 [5.2, 6.9] | 4.5 [3.7, 5.3]^* | |
 Atopic status | IgE (IU/mL), mean [95% CI] | 415.5 [280.4, 550.5] | 432.7 [252.3, 613.1] | 216.3 [47.4, 385.2] | 349.2 [103.9, 594.6] | 587.1 [− 1.9, 1176.1] |
 Obesity | BMI (kg/m2), mean [95% CI] | 31.6 [30.2, 32.9] | 30.4 [28.9, 31.9] | 28.7 [22.9, 34.4] | 32.3 [29.6, 35.1] | 36.8 [30.8, 42.8]✦* |
Risk factors and behavioural | ||||||
 Absence of written action plan | Absence of WAP, n (%) | 44 (31) | 21 (28) | 2 (18) | 13 (35) | 8 [44] |
 Exercise intolerance | 6-min walk test (metres), mean [95% CI] | 452.4 [434.4, 470.4] | 469.4 [445.0, 493.8] | 454.8 [374.4, 535.3] | 439.1 [403.9, 474.2] | 404.3 [352.2, 456.5] |