Table 3.
Treatment Patterns Stratified by Initial Asthma Treatment Step
| First Step | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Variables | n = 10,028 | n = 1282 | n = 2946 | n = 2977 | n = 1951 | n = 19,184 |
| Follow-up time in years, median (IQR) | 2.7 (1.0–6.9) | 3.3 (1.2–8.2) | 3.4 (1.1–8.1) | 3.5 (1.2–7.9) | 3.2 (1.2–7.7) | 3.0 (1.1–7.4) |
| Number of switches, median (IQR) | 2 (0–4) | 2 (1–5) | 1 (0–4) | 1 (0–3) | 0 (0–1) | 1 (0–3) |
| Null switches, n (column %) | 3829 (38.2) | 301 (23.5) | 790 (26.8) | 1090 (36.6) | 1055 (54.1) | 7065 (36.8) |
| First step switched to, n (column %) | ||||||
| 1 | - | 558 (43.5) | 1155 (39.2) | 1140 (38.3) | 222 (11.4) | 3075 (16.0) |
| 2 | 1208 (12.0) | - | 226 (7.7) | 73 (2.5) | 72 (3.7) | 1579 (8.2) |
| 3 | 2204 (22.0) | 226 (17.6) | - | 376 (12.6) | 193 (9.9) | 2999 (15.6) |
| 4 | 1961 (19.6) | 118 (9.2) | 531 (18.0) | - | 409 (21.0) | 3019 (15.7) |
| 5 | 826 (8.2) | 79 (6.2) | 244 (8.2) | 298 (10.0) | - | 1447 (7.5) |
| Last step, n (column %) | ||||||
| 1 | 7071 (70.5) | 526 (41.0) | 1097 (37.2) | 974 (32.7) | 270 (13.8) | 9938 (51.8) |
| 2 | 416 (4.1) | 402 (31.4) | 146 (5.0) | 53 (1.8) | 61 (3.1) | 1078 (5.6) |
| 3 | 737 (7.3) | 120 (9.4) | 1103 (37.4) | 225 (7.6) | 147 (7.5) | 2332 (12.2) |
| 4 | 1157 (11.5) | 155 (12.1) | 403 (13.7) | 1508 (50.7) | 331 (17.0) | 3554 (18.5) |
| 5 | 647 (6.5) | 79 (6.2) | 197 (6.7) | 217 (7.3) | 1142 (58.5) | 2282 (11.9) |
| Last step compared to first, n (column %) | ||||||
| Step-down | - | 526 (41) | 1243 (42.2) | 1252 (42.1) | 809 (41.5) | 3830 (20.0) |
| Same step | 7071 (70.5) | 402 (31.4) | 1103 (37.4) | 1508 (50.7) | 1142 (58.5) | 11,226 (58.5) |
| Step-up | 2957 (29.5) | 354 (27.6) | 600 (20.4) | 217 (7.3) | - | 4128 (21.5) |
| Step difference, mean (SD) | 0.79 (1.33) | 0.11 (1.24) | −0.52 (1.29) | −1.02 (1.46) | −0.97 (1.42) | 0.08 (1.56) |
| Step size, mean (SD) | 0.79 (1.33) | 0.93 (0.82) | 1.07 (0.90) | 1.17 (1.34) | 0.97 (1.43) | 0.92 (1.27) |
Abbreviations: n, number; IQR, inter quartile range; SD, standard deviation.