Figure 3. Subgroup Analyses of Severe Asthma Exacerbation Outcome.
The forest plot shows the risk of severe asthma exacerbations in selected prespecified subgroups. The widths of the confidence intervals have not been adjusted for multiplicity and cannot be used to infer treatment effects. Race was reported by the participant; those who identified as both Black and Latinx were classified as Latinx. Nonsmokers were those who had not smoked within the previous year and had smoked less than 10 pack-years. The participant’s attitude toward asthma medications was assessed with the Beliefs about Medicines Questionnaire; the “accepting” category indicates that the participant believed the therapy was of high necessity and low concern.33 Depressive status was assessed with the Patient Health Questionnaire–2; scores range from 0 to 6, with a score of 3 or higher indicating depression.34 The Brief Health Literacy Scale measures participant-reported health literacy and consists of three items. If a participant’s response on any item indicated low or marginal health literacy, the participant was considered to have low or marginal health literacy; otherwise, health literacy was considered to be high.32 The body-mass index is the weight in kilograms divided by the square of the height in meters. Participant-reported medication adherence was assessed with the Medication Adherence Report Scale–5 by the calculation of the mean score over the five items. Mean scores range from 1 to 5, with higher scores indicating better adherence.31 FeNO denotes fraction of exhaled nitric oxide, LABA long-acting β2-agonist, and ppb parts per billion.