Patient characteristics at baseline
| Parameter | All subjects | GINA group | p-value# | ||||
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | |||
| Patients | 1080 | 68 (6.7)¶ | 151 (14.9) | 182 (18.0) | 408 (40.2) | 205 (20.2) | |
| Females | 694 (64.5) | 37 (54.4) | 107 (70.9) | 111 (61.0) | 262 (64.2) | 138 (67.3) | 0.12 |
| Age years | 49.1±15.4 | 40.3±15.5 | 45.6±15.4 | 47.6±15.6 | 51.7±15.1 | 49.9±13.9 | <0.0001 |
| Caucasian origin | 866 (82.2) | 58 (85.3) | 129 (86.0) | 145 (81.0) | 335 (83.8) | 150 (75.8) | 0.08 |
| Other origin | 188 (17.8) | 10 (14.7) | 21 (14.0) | 34 (19.0) | 65 (16.2) | 48 (24.2) | 0.08 |
| Family history of asthma | |||||||
| Mother | 172 (16.4) | 13 (19.4) | 35 (23.2) | 30 (16.8) | 60 (14.8) | 24 (12.4) | 0.08 |
| Father | 136 (13.1) | 5 (7.3) | 20 (13.3) | 21 (11.8) | 56 (13.9) | 23 (12.0) | 0.63 |
| Siblings | 274 (26.3) | 19 (27.9) | 41 (27.7) | 52 (28.9) | 108 (26.9) | 39 (20.1) | 0.31 |
| BMI for all patients kg/m2 | 27.1±6.0 | 25.6±5.8 | 26.5±5.7 | 27.0±6.1 | 27.2±5.9 | 27.1±5.7 | 0.24 |
| BMI <30 | 798 (74.7) | 57 (83.8) | 118 (78.2) | 139 (76.8) | 298 (73.4) | 150 (73.9) | 0.34 |
| BMI ≥30 | 271 (25.3) | 11 (16.2) | 33 (21.8) | 42 (23.2) | 108 (26.6) | 53 (26.1) | 0.34 |
| BMI female only kg/m2 | 27.2±6.7 | 25.4±6.5 | 26.4±6.3 | 27.2±7.0 | 27.2±6.6 | 27.5±6.3 | 0.37 |
| Age of asthma onset years | 24.1±18.7 | 21.9±17.5 | 23.5±19.2 | 23.8±18.5 | 24.4±18.7 | 23.2±17.6 | 0.86 |
| Late asthma onset (> 30 years) | 361 (34.2) | 19 (28.4) | 50 (33.6) | 61 (33.7) | 141 (35.1) | 64 (31.2) | 0.79 |
| Asthma duration years | 25.0±17.6 | 18.4±15.0 | 22.1±15.9 | 23.9±16.3 | 27.3±18.8 | 26.7±17.3 | 0.0001 |
| Biological data | |||||||
| Total serum IgE IU·mL−1 | 179 [67–462] | 122 [54–329] | 131 [52–337] | 176 [57–441] | 172 [67–472] | 255 [92–628] | 0.003 |
| Blood eosinophils mm−3 | 230 [120–440] | 230 [114–410] | 200 [110–300] | 220 [110–380] | 240 [130–460] | 280 [100–540] | 0.05 |
| Blood eosinophils <300 mm−3 | 510 (59.7) | 40 (66.7) | 90 (73.8) | 87 (63.0) | 195 (56.2) | 86 (52.8) | 0.002 |
| Blood eosinophils >300 mm−3 | 345 (40.3) | 20 (33.3) | 32 (26.2) | 51 (37.0) | 152 (43.8) | 77 (47.2) | 0.002 |
| With history of atopy | 587 (88.5) | 34 (87.2) | 101 (91.8) | 105 (90.5) | 201 (86.3) | 116 (86.6) | 0.53 |
| Positive cutaneous tests | |||||||
| Dust mite | 351 (47.1) | 22 (50.0) | 69 (58.5) | 65 (49.6) | 106 (39.0) | 71 (51.5) | 0.005 |
| Pollens | 258 (34.7) | 9 (21.4) | 57 (48.3) | 47 (36.1) | 82 (29.9) | 47 (34.6) | 0.004 |
| Latex | 28 (4.0) | 1 (2.7) | 3 (2.9) | 3 (2.5) | 12 (4.7) | 6 (4.5) | 0.80 |
| Cat | 210 (28.3) | 11 (25.0) | 39 (33.0) | 39 (29.8) | 71 (26.3) | 39 (28.7) | 0.70 |
| Dog | 192 (26.3) | 8 (18.2) | 34 (29.3) | 35 (28.0) | 63 (23.5) | 42 (31.1) | 0.30 |
| Rat | 9 (1.4) | 0 (0.0) | 4 (4.5) | 0 (0.0) | 0 (0.0) | 4 (3.2) | 0.006 |
| Cockroach | 75 (10.5) | 3 (6.8) | 11 (9.8) | 13 (10.2) | 22 (8.5) | 18 (13.5) | 0.56 |
| Alternaria alternata | 81 (11.0) | 4 (9.1) | 16 (13.9) | 12 (9.2) | 29 (10.8) | 15 (11.0) | 0.81 |
| Cladosporium spp. | 28 (4.1) | 1 (2.9) | 4 (3.8) | 3 (2.5) | 10 (3.9) | 7 (5.3) | 0.84 |
| Aspergillus fumigatus | 62 (9.0) | 1 (2.8) | 6 (5.7) | 11 (9.2) | 21 (8.2) | 16 (11.9) | 0.32 |
| Penicillium spp. | 35 (5.2) | 1 (2.9) | 3 (3.0) | 6 (5.1) | 13 (5.2) | 8 (6.1) | 0.82 |
| Respiratory function | |||||||
| Pre-bronchodilator FEV1 % pred | 77.1±22.9 | 97.9±14.7 | 94.7±16.4 | 84.2±16.8 | 68.7±22.1 | 68.0±22.1 | <0.0001 |
| Post-bronchodilator FEV1 % pred | 80.6±30.1 | 102.9±20.2 | 100.0±16.7 | 85.0±17.4 | 75.7±37.4 | 71.0±21.5 | <0.0001 |
| Pre-bronchodilator FEV1 L | 2.26±0.90 | 3.35±0.90 | 2.82±0.79 | 2.49±0.76 | 1.92±0.76 | 1.95±0.79 | <0.0001 |
| Post-bronchodilator FEV1 L | 2.34±0.89 | 3.35±0.96 | 2.95±0.87 | 2.54±0.74 | 2.10±0.77 | 2.03±0.81 | <0.0001 |
| With post-bronchodilator FEV1 <70% predicted | 203 (33.7) | 1 (2.6) | 5 (7.2) | 11 (12.6) | 111 (44.2) | 66 (50.4) | <0.0001 |
| Pre-bronchodilator FEV1/FVC % pred | 67.7±13.8 | 76.6±13.2 | 75.8±9.5 | 70.9±12.5 | 63.5±13.0 | 63.5±14.2 | <0.0001 |
| Reversibility to β2 agonists % | 9.45±14.56 | 5.51±8.22 | 6.28±8.48 | 7.18±8.68 | 11.66±15.92 | 9.24±18.74 | 0.0007 |
| Reversibility to β2 agonists mL | 169±256 | 155±306 | 160±200 | 145±180 | 186±254 | 152±324 | 0.47 |
| With reversibility >12% and >200 mL | 213 (26.1) | 7 (15.6) | 20 (19.2) | 30 (21.7) | 104 (31.6) | 39 (22.9) | 0.02 |
| Hospitalisations and treatments | |||||||
| Hospitalisations for asthma during lifetime n | 3.75±9.46 | 0.09±0.29 | 0.65±1.94 | 2.77±9.08 | 4.24±8.50 | 6.53±12.78 | <0.0001 |
| Hospitalisations for asthma in the past year | 245 (23.4) | 3 (4.5) | 12 (7.9) | 24 (13.3) | 117 (29.0) | 72 (35.8) | <0.0001 |
| Visits to emergency department in the past year | 490 (46.2) | 13 (19.4) | 38 (25.2) | 63 (34.8) | 229 (56.1) | 123 (60.3) | <0.0001 |
| Hospitalisation in ICU during lifetime | 215 (20.3) | 0 (0.0) | 8 (5.3) | 21 (11.5) | 114 (28.1) | 67 (32.8) | <0.0001 |
| With severe exacerbations in the past year | 705 (66.8) | 13 (20.0) | 58 (38.4) | 106 (58.6) | 320 (78.8) | 175 (85.8) | <0.0001 |
| OCS bursts in the past year n | 3.9±10.5 | 0.6±3.3 | 0.6±1.2 | 1.4±2.7 | 5.1±12.0 | 7.7±15.5 | <0.0001 |
| Asthma control | |||||||
| Optimal | 239 (23.3) | 47 (70.1) | 75 (50.3) | 51 (28.5) | 43 (10.6) | 19 (9.5) | <0.0001 |
| Suboptimal | 299 (29.2) | 15 (22.4) | 55 (36.9) | 78 (43.6) | 114 (28.1) | 31 (15.4) | <0.0001 |
| Unacceptable | 486 (47.5) | 5 (7.5) | 19 (12.8) | 50 (27.9) | 249 (61.3) | 151 (75.1) | <0.0001 |
| ACQ score | 1.99±1.49 | 0.67±0.86 | 1.07±1.09 | 1.74±1.26 | 2.58±1.47 | 2.66±1.43 | <0.0001 |
Data are presented as n (%), mean±sd or median (interquartile range). #: ANOVA, or chi-squared test across Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA) groups 1 to 5. BMI: body mass index; FEV1: forced expiratory volume in 1 s; FVC: forced vital capacity; ICU: intensive care unit; OCS: oral corticosteroids; ACQ: Asthma Control Questionnaire. Bold type denotes statistical significance.