Specific questions in airways questionnaire 20 (AQ20) and asthma control test in patients with or without comorbidities
| No comorbidities | 1 comorbidity | ≥2 comorbidity | Unadjusted overall p-value | Adjusted p-values# | |
| Patients n | 72 | 47 | 51 | ||
| AQ20; n (%) answering “yes” | |||||
| Q1. Do you suffer from coughing attacks during the day? | 28 (39.4) | 18 (41.9) | 29 (56.9) | 0.140 | |
| Q2. Because of your chest trouble do you often feel restless? | 3 (4.3) | 13 (30.2) | 7 (14.0) | 0.001 | 0.003/0.324 |
| Q3. Because of your chest trouble do you feel breathless when maintaining the garden? | 8 (11.4) | 8 (18.2) | 18 (36) | 0.004 | 0.439/0.247 |
| Q4. Do you worry when going to a friend's house that there might be something there that will set off an attack of chest trouble? | 19 (27.9) | 17 (39.5) | 11 (21.6) | 0.156 | |
| Q5. Do you suffer from chest symptoms as a result of exposure to strong smells, cigarette smoke or perfume? | 48 (68.6) | 34 (75.6) | 40 (76.9) | 0.534 | |
| Q6. Is your partner bothered by your chest problems? | 3 (4.2) | 6 (13.6) | 6 (11.8) | 0.166 | |
| Q7. Do you feel breathless while trying to sleep? | 6 (8.3) | 11 (25) | 6 (11.5) | 0.044 | 0.055/0.860 |
| Q8. Do you worry about the long term effects on your health of the drugs that you have to take because of your chest trouble? | 16 (22.9) | 16 (36.4) | 9 (18.4) | 0.115 | |
| Q9. Does getting emotionally upset make your chest trouble worse? | 15 (21.4) | 16 (35.6) | 15 (30) | 0.261 | |
| Q10. Because of your chest trouble are there times when you have difficulty getting around the house? | 0 | 5 (11.6) | 7 (13.5) | 0.008 | ND |
| Q11. Because of your chest trouble do you suffer from breathlessness carrying out activities at work? | 7 (10) | 9 (20.6) | 12 (24) | 0.100 | |
| Q12. Do you feel breathless walking upstairs because of your chest trouble? | 13 (18.3) | 16 (36.4) | 29 (60.4) | <0.001 | 0.482/0.015 |
| Q13. Because of your chest trouble do you suffer from breathlessness doing housework? | 2 (2.8) | 5 (11.4) | 16 (32) | <0.001 | 0.306/0.007 |
| Q14. Because of your chest trouble do you go home sooner than others after a night out? | 1 (1.5) | 7 (17.1) | 4 (9.3) | 0.013 | 0.023/0.146 |
| Q15. Because of your chest trouble do you suffer from breathlessness when you laugh? | 11 (15.7) | 6 (13.6) | 11 (22.4) | 0.484 | |
| Q16. Because of your chest trouble do you often feel impatient? | 6 (8.6) | 9 (20.5) | 5 (10.2) | 0.148 | |
| Q17. Because of your chest trouble do you feel that you cannot enjoy a full life? | 4 (5.7) | 14 (32.6) | 9 (18.4) | 0.001 | 0.002/0.090 |
| Q18. Do you feel drained after a cold because of your chest trouble? | 23 (34.3) | 21 (47.7) | 25 (51) | 0.154 | |
| Q19. Do you have a feeling of chest heaviness? | 14 (19.7) | 14 (31.1) | 21 (40.4) | 0.042 | 0.383/0.172 |
| Q20. Do you bother much about your chest trouble? | 6 (8.6) | 10 (22.2) | 10 (19.2) | 0.098 | |
| Asthma control test; n (%) scoring ≤3 | |||||
| Q1. Asthma kept the patient from getting as much done at work, school or at home all, most or some of the time | 7 (9.7) | 9 (20) | 15 (28.8) | 0.024 | 0.066/0.033 |
| Q2. Patient had shortness of breath at least 3–6 times/week | 7 (9.7) | 8 (17.8) | 14 (26.9) | 0.043 | 0.431/0.148 |
| Q3. Asthma symptoms woke the patients up at night or earlier than usual in the morning at least once a week | 8 (11.2) | 8 (17.7) | 8 (15.4) | 0.578 | |
| Q4. The patient has used rescue inhaler or nebuliser medication at least 2–3 times per week | 14 (19.5) | 15 (33.3) | 17 (32.6) | 0.147 | |
| Q5. Patient rated his/her asthma as somewhat controlled, poorly controlled or not at all contolled | 8 (11.1) | 14 (31.1) | 16 (30.8) | 0.010 | 0.037/0.463 |
#: adjusted for body mass index, age, pack–years and sex. The first adjusted p-value shown is for comparison between groups of 1 comorbidity versus no comorbidities and the second for comparison between ≥2 comorbidities versus no comorbidities. ND: not determined.