Characteristics of patients eligible for analysis#
| Baseline | Maintenance visit | |||
| CS | SS | CS | SS | |
| Subjects n | 52 | 50 | 52 | 50 |
| Clinical characteristics | ||||
| Age, yrs | 43.5 (13.9) | 46.0 (13.8) | ||
| Sex, male % | 28.8 | 30 | ||
| Duration of asthma yrs | 19.3 (12.2) | 20.0 (16.7) | ||
| Atopy | 90.2 | 90.2 | ||
| Symptoms score¶ | 5.4 (1.1) | 5.6 (1.0) | 5.9 (0.9) | 6.2 (0.8) |
| Pre BD FEV1+ | 78.7 (18.9) | 78.4 (18.3) | 81.1 (17.0) | 82.4 (15.5) |
| Pre BD FEV1/SVC | 69.8 (10.4) | 69.3 (12.1) | 71.7 (11.5) | 72.3 (11.0) |
| ΔFEV1 after BD§ | 18.3 (12.5) | 21.4 (12.5) | 7.1 (6.5) | 7.6 (6.9) |
| Methacholine PC20 mg·mL−1ƒ | 0.82 (5.7) | 0.89 (4.0) | 1.5 (3.4)§§ | 1.4 (4.6)§§ |
| Asthma treatment | ||||
| IS | 88.5 | 86.0 | 92.3 | 94.0 |
| IS dose µg·day−1## | 500 (0–2000) | 500 (0–4000) | 625 (0–2000) | 750 (0–3000) |
| LABA | 34.6 | 26.0 | 39.4 | 36.0 |
| Antileukotriene | 7.7 | 10.0 | 7.7 | 12.0 |
| Prednisone<1/emph> | 1.9 | 4.0 | 0 | 2.0 |
| Other asthma medication¶¶ | 3.8 | 6.0 | 3.8 | 2.0 |
| Nasal steroid | 20.8 | 26.0 | 34.6 | 30.0 |
| Induced sputum## | ||||
| Total cell count ×106·g−1 | 2.9 (0.2–266.7) | 2.7 (0.4–48.9) | 3.8 (0.5–62.5) | 3.3 (0.4–23.8) |
| Neutrophils | 26.0 (2.3–94.2) | 35.5 (2.0–86.3) | 37.0 (4.0–94.55) | 41.8 (2.0–94.5) |
| Eosinophils | 2.0 (0–79.0) | 2.0 (0–71.0) | 1.2 (0–53.0) | 1.0 (0–2.0) |
| Eosinophilia ≥3% | 41.2 | 30.0 | 39.6 | 2.1ƒƒ |
Data are presented as percentages and presented as mean±sd for continuous and percentages for dichotomous variables, unless otherwise stated. CS: clinical strategy; SS: sputum strategy; Atopy: means ≥1 positive allergy skin-prick test with a wheal of >2 mm than the negative control; Pre: before use; BD: bronchodilator (salbutamol); FEV1: forced expiratory volume in one second; SVC: slow vital capacity; PC20: provocative concentration causing a 20% drop in FEV1; IS: inhaled steroid; LABA: long acting β2-agonist; #: only subjects who achieved maintenance (see fig. 1⇓). ¶: symptoms score varied from 1 (a very great deal of discomfort or distress) to 7 (no discomfort or distress) and is the mean of 7 individual scores; +: FEV1 predicted values from Crapo et al. 23 and are prebronchodilator; §: n = 16 in CS and n = 14 in SS; ƒ: data presented as geometric mean (geometric sd), n = 36 in CS and n = 36 in SS; ##: data presented as median (minimum–maximum); ¶¶: other asthma medication included theophylline or cromone; §§: data from the visit at 6 months in the study, n = 36 in the CS and n = 33 in the SS (of whom 92 and 83%, respectively, were on maintenance treatment at this visit); ƒƒ: p<0.001 within SS at different time points and between treatment strategies at maintenance.