| Clinical characteristics | ICS users | Non-ICS users | p-value |
| Subjects n | 376 | 114 | |
| Age yrs | 71.5±9.92 | 72.7±11.02 | 0.3 |
| Males | 48.9 | 50 | 0.9 |
| Cardiac failure | 31.9 | 25.4 | 0.005 |
| Liver disease | 4.3 | 2.6 | 0.6 |
| Cerebrovascular disease | 13.0 | 16.7 | 0.4 |
| Chronic renal failure | 7.2 | 8.8 | 0.5 |
| GOLD stage | |||
| 1 | 0.3 | 7.0 | <0.0001 |
| 2 | 22.6 | 45.6 | <0.0001 |
| 3 | 29.5 | 28.9 | 1.00 |
| 4 | 47.6 | 18.4 | <0.0001 |
| New-onset confusion | 13.3 | 20.2 | 0.07 |
| Respiratory rate breaths·min−1 | 24 (20–30) | 24 (16–32) | 0.2 |
| Blood pressure mmHg | |||
| Systolic | 120 (104–140) | 119 (95–138) | 0.1 |
| Diastolic | 69 (60–78) | 68 (57–76) | 0.3 |
| Temperature °C | 37.4 (37.1–38.2) | 37.3 (37.1–38.0) | 0.08 |
| Pulse rate beats·min−1 | 100 (90–120) | 100 (88–114) | 0.3 |
| Haematocrit % | 39.7 (36–43.4) | 38.9 (34.5–41.8) | 0.07 |
| White cell count ×109 cells·L−1 | 14.4 (10.9–18.7) | 13.5 (10.1–18.0) | 0.2 |
| Platelet count ×109 cells·L−1 | 246 (194–324) | 252 (191–361) | 0.8 |
| Urea mmol·L−1 | 7.2 (5.2–10.7) | 8 (5.8–11.5) | 0.08 |
| Sodium mmol·L−1 | 137 (134–139) | 137 (134–139) | 0.7 |
| Potassium mmol·L−1 | 4.1 (3.8–4.4) | 4.1 (3.7–4.5) | 0.8 |
| Albumin g·L−1 | 37 (33–40) | 36 (32–39) | 0.09 |
| C-reactive protein mg·L−1 | 148 (58–268) | 183 (85–302) | 0.08 |
| Multilobar chest radiograph shadowing | 14.6 | 14.9 | 1.0 |
| Pleural effusion | 9.8 | 9.6 | 1.0 |
| Systemic corticosteroid administration on admission | 50.5 | 48.2 | 0.75 |
Data presented as mean±sd, % or median (interquartile range), unless otherwise stated. GOLD: Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease.