Patient characteristics and quality of life in the validation cohort according to the four clusters
| Cluster 1: “Pseudomonas” | Cluster 2: “Other chronic infection” | Cluster 3: “Daily sputum” | Cluster 4: “Dry bronchiectasis” | Overall p-value | |
| Demographics and comorbidities | |||||
| Age years | 70 (62–72) | 66 (57–74) | 65 (55–72) | 63 (55–75) | 0.7 |
| Male | 14 (46.6) | 10 (33.3) | 13 (43.3) | 11 (36.7) | 0.7 |
| BMI kg·m–2 | 24 (21–26) | 26 (22–30) | 25 (24–30) | 26 (22–30) | 0.8 |
| Smoker/ex-smoker | 9 (30) | 8 (27) | 9 (30) | 4 (13.3) | 0.4 |
| CCI >1 | 11 (37) | 10 (33) | 8 (27) | 12 (40) | 0.7 |
| Disease severity | |||||
| BSI score | 12 (9–15) | 8 (5–11) | 6 (3–9) | 6 (4–8) | 0.0001 |
| Radiological status | |||||
| Reiff score | 6 (3–10) | 3 (2–6) | 2 (2–5) | 3 (2–4) | <0.0001 |
| Clinical status | |||||
| Daily cough | 30 (100) | 28 (93) | 30 (100) | 19 (64) | <0.0001 |
| Daily sputum | 29 (97) | 27 (90) | 30 (100) | 0 (0) | <0.0001 |
| Prior history of haemoptysis | 8 (27) | 4 (13) | 3 (10) | 0 (0) | 0.02 |
| MRC breathlessness scale | 3 (2–5) | 3 (2–4) | 1 (1–2) | 1 (1–2) | <0.0001 |
| Exacerbations in the previous year | 2 (1–5) | 2 (0–2) | 1 (0–1) | 1 (0–2) | <0.0001 |
| At least one hospitalisation in the previous year | 20 (66.7) | 15 (50) | 5 (16.6) | 3 (10.0) | <0.0001 |
| Functional status | |||||
| FEV1 % predicted | 51 (35–76) | 61 (49–81) | 83 (65–97) | 93 (59–99) | <0.0001 |
| Microbiology | |||||
| Chronic infection with Pseudomonas aeruginosa | 30 (100) | 0 | 0 | 0 | <0.0001 |
| Chronic infection with other pathogens | 0 | 30 (100) | 0 | 0 | <0.0001 |
| Quality of life | |||||
| SGRQ | 58.3 (38.6–70.3) | 44.3 (31.8–51.9) | 33.3 (25.6–37.1) | 36.6 (20–49.0) | <0.0001 |
| Leicester Cough Questionnaire | 10 (9–16) | 13 (10–17) | 16 (14–19) | 13.2 (11.0–19.0) | 0.004 |
Data are presented as median (interquartile range) or n (%), unless otherwise stated. BMI: body mass index; CCI: Charlson Comorbidity Index; BSI: Bronchiectasis Severity Index; MRC: Medical Research Council; FEV1: forced expiratory volume in 1 s; SGRQ: St George's Respiratory Questionnaire.