Overall cohort | Rarely eosinophilic | Intermittently eosinophilic | Predominantly eosinophilic | p-valueƒ | |
Patients | 108 | 26 | 13 | 48 | |
Continuous variables | |||||
White blood cells count ×109 L–1 | 8.00 (3.53) (n=102) | 8.70 (4.25) (n=25) | 8.95 (2.55) (n=12) | 7.30 (3.23) (n=48) | 0.349 |
Blood eosinophils count ×109 L–1 | 0.20 (0.20) (n=102) | 0.10 (0.15) (n=25) | 0.15 (0.10) (n=12) | 0.30 (0.27) (n=48) | <0.001 |
Blood eosinophils % | 2.07 (2.78) (n=102) | 1.19 (1.74) (n=25) | 1.92 (0.88) (n=12) | 3.39 (4.40) (n=48) | <0.001 |
Blood neutrophils count ×109 L–1 | 5.30 (3.20) (n=102) | 5.60 (4.05) (n=25) | 5.55 (2.57) (n=12) | 4.45 (2.98) (n=48) | 0.045 |
Fibrinogen g·L–1 | 5.10 (1.40) (n=103) | 4.80 (1.80) (n=25) | 5.50 (2.25) (n=12) | 5.10 (1.60) (n=46) | 0.135 |
C-reactive protein mg·L–1 | 8.00 (14.0) (n=103) | 7.00 (12.5) (n=25) | 26.5 (49.8) (n=12) | 7.00 (13.0) (n=47) | 0.087 |
Sputum eosinophils % | 1.20 (2.38) (n=61) | 0.62 (2.29) (n=15) | 1.40 (3.23) (n=9) | 1.48 (3.56) (n=28) | 0.273 |
Sputum neutrophils % | 74.0 (47.1) (n=61) | 76.8 (51.6) (n=15) | 86.6 (40.3) (n=9) | 74.1 (52.3) (n=28) | 0.616 |
FEV1 % pred | 42.7 (21.2) (n=97) | 47.3 (30.0) (n=22) | 41.5 (17.5) (n=12) | 41.7 (20.0) (n=44) | 0.395 |
CAT score | 21.0 (11.0) (n=106) | 22.0 (12.0) (n=26) | 22.0 (17.0) (n=13) | 19.0 (8.00) (n=47) | 0.915 |
EXACT-PRO score | 41.0 (11.0) (n=97) | 43.0 (13.0) (n=23) | 40.0 (10.0) (n=12) | 39.5 (7.00) (n=44) | 0.142 |
Categorical variables | |||||
Bacteria present+ | |||||
Yes | 60 (61) | 19 (86) | 6 (55) | 27 (57) | 0.044 |
No | 38 (39) | 3 (14) | 5 (45) | 20 (43) | |
Virus present§ | |||||
Yes | 40 (43) | 12 (55) | 4 (40) | 14 (33) | 0.235 |
No | 53 (57) | 10 (45) | 6 (60) | 28 (67) | |
Sputum eosinophils >3% | |||||
Yes | 23 (30) | 2 (11) | 0 (0) | 17 (47) | 0.004 |
No | 54 (70) | 16 (89) | 7 (100) | 19 (53) | |
Blood eosinophils ≥2% | |||||
Yes | 73 (68) | 7 (28) | 7 (54) | 47 (98) | <0.001 |
No | 34 (32) | 18 (72) | 6 (46) | 1 (2) |
Data are presented as n for patient numbers, median (interquartile range) for continuous variables or n (%) for categorical variables, unless otherwise stated. FEV1: forced expiratory volume in 1 s; CAT: COPD Assessment Test; #: n=108; ¶: n=87; +: sputum sampling, measured by culture sputum sampling, measured by culture (includes Haemophilus influenzae, Moraxella catarrhalis, Streptococcus pneumoniae, Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa); §: sputum sampling, measured by PCR (includes adenovirus, enterovirus, influenza, coronavirus, metapneumovirus, bocavirus, parainfluenza, respiratory syncytial virus and rhinovirus); ƒ: test for differences between the three longitudinal eosinophil groups (Kruskal–Wallis test for continuous variables; Chi-squared test for categorical variables).