TABLE 1.
Characteristics of enrolled patients with acute asthma categorized by admission status
| Characteristic |
Patients |
P | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Admitted (n=91) | Discharged (n=604) | ||
| Age, years (mean ± SD) | 36.4±10.2 | 31.1±9.9 | <0.001 |
| Female sex | 59 (64.8) | 379 (62.7) | 0.701 |
| Ethnicity | |||
| Caucasian | 70 (76.9) | 515 (85.2) | 0.032 |
| Aboriginal | – | 17 (2.8) | – |
| Asian | 5 (5.5) | 13 (2.2) | – |
| East Indian | 3 (3.3) | 17 (2.8) | – |
| Black | 6 (6.6) | 18 (3) | – |
| Other | 7 (7.7) | 24 (4) | – |
| High school graduate | 64 (70.3) | 507 (83.9) | 0.002 |
| Marital status (married/common law) | 46 (50.5) | 257 (42.5) | 0.151 |
| Employment (full-time) | 39 (42.8) | 283 (46.8) | 0.476 |
| Smoking status | |||
| Never | 30 (32.9) | 231 (38.2) | 0.041 |
| Previous | 36 (39.6) | 162 (26.8) | |
| Current | 25 (27.5) | 211 (34.9) | |
| Pack-years smoked*, median (IQR) | 8 (4–14) | 4 (1–8) | <0.001 |
| Insurance status | |||
| Medication plan coverage, n/n (%) | 57/73 (78.0) | 329/455 (72.3) | 0.556 |
| Percentage paid by the patient, median (IQR) | 20 (20–28.5) | 20 (0–20) | <0.001 |
| Reported less medication use, n/n (%) | 23/64 (35.9) | 119/433 (27.4) | 0.222 |
| Had primary care provider | 75 (82.4) | 492 (81.4) | 0.826 |
| Chronic asthma factors | |||
| Ever taken steroid medicine for asthma | 68 (74.7) | 358 (59.2) | 0.005 |
| Ever hospitalized for asthma | 58 (63.7) | 307 (50.8) | 0.062 |
| Ever intubated for asthma | 11 (12.0) | 52 (8.6) | 0.554 |
| ED visits in the past 2 years, median (IQR) | 1 (0–3) | 1 (0–4) | 0.116 |
| Admitted for asthma in the past 2 years | 36 (39.5) | 126 (20.8) | <0.001 |
| ED usual site for problem asthma care | 56 (61.5) | 362 (59.9) | 0.771 |
| ED usual source of asthma prescriptions | 7 (7.6) | 60 (9.9) | 0.499 |
| Medications at presentation to the ED | |||
| Inhaled SABA | 70 (76.9) | 493 (81.6) | 0.287 |
| Inhaled CS | 30 (32.9) | 187 (30.9) | 0.700 |
| Inhaled LABA | 8 (8.7) | 23 (3.8) | 0.032 |
| Combination agents (inhaled CS + LABA) | 36 (39.5) | 183 (30.2) | 0.076 |
| Leukotriene modifier/antagonist | 7 (7.6) | 44 (7.2) | 0.889 |
| Oral corticosteroids | 18 (19.7) | 44 (7.2) | <0.001 |
| Anticholinergics | 9 (9.8) | 32 (5.2) | 0.114 |
| Short-acting anticholinergics | 6 (6.5) | 27 (4.4) | |
| Long-acting anticholinergics | 3 (3.2) | 5 (0.9) | |
| Combined SABA + anticholinergics | 10 (10.9) | 17 (2.8) | <0.001 |
| Theophylline | 4 (5.5) | 6 (1) | 0.011 |
| Antibiotics | 4 (5.5) | 10 (1.6) | 0.151 |
Data presented as n (%) unless indicated otherwise.
*
Calculated by multiplying the number of packs per day with the number of years smoked. CS Corticosteroid; ED Emergency department; IQR Interquartile range. LABA Long-acting beta-2 agonist; SABA Short-acting beta-2 agonist