Table 2.

Analysis of IL-6 in the relationship between disease status and lung function

Simple Regression Analyses
Path X
Disease status (asthma)	IL-6 (mediator) 10.68a (2.86)b p < 0.0007
Path Y
	Lung function Parameters
IL-6 (mediator)	FEV1/FVC% predicted	PEFR
	-0.5 (0.16) p = 0.0025	-0.45 (0.16) p = 0.0088
Path Z
	Lung function Parameters
Disease status (asthma)	FEV1/FVC% predicted	PEFR
	-13.58 (2.51) p < 0.0001	-9.21 (3.07) p = 0.0052
Multiple Regression Analyses
	Lung function Parameters
	FEV1/FVC% predicted	PEFR
Disease status (asthma)	-11.69 (2.99) p = 0.0005	-6.34 (3.62) p = 0.09
IL-6 (mediator)	-0.177 (0.15) p = 0.2594	-0.27 (0.19) p = 0.1599

a: β-coefficient

b: standard errors