Characteristics of unreported and reported exacerbations#
| Unreported | Reported | |
| Exacerbations | 466 | 410 |
| Exacerbation rate events·person-yr−1 | 1.01 (0.92–1.09) | 0.95 (0.87–1.04) |
| Total number of key symptoms | 1 (1–3) | 3 (1–3) |
| Type of key symptoms | ||
| Sputum amount | 213 (45.7) | 292 (71.2)¶ |
| Sputum colour | 72 (15.5) | 268 (65.4)¶ |
| Dyspnoea | 279 (59.9) | 353 (86.1)¶ |
| One symptom | 388 (83.3) | 118 (28.8)¶ |
| Two symptoms | 58 (12.4) | 81 (19.7)** |
| Three symptoms | 20 (4.3) | 211 (51.5)¶ |
| Treatment of exacerbations | ||
| Untreated exacerbations | 373 (80.1) | 53 (12.9) |
| Treated exacerbations | 93 (19.9) | 357 (87.1) |
Data are presented as n, mean (95% CI) or n (%). Data for key symptoms are presented as median (range). #: among all 491 patients. **: p<0.01; ¶: p<0.0001 using generalised estimating equations with each symptom as the dependent variable and the reporting status as the independent variable, and taking into account the potential individual-level clustering effect.