Table 1:

Baseline characteristics of patients with chronic or recurrent sinus symptoms, by factorial group and randomization group

Characteristic	Factorial group; no. (%) or mean ± SD
	Participants with baseline primary outcome data				All participants
	No nasal irrigation	Nasal irrigation	No steam inhalation	Steam inhalation	No nasal irrigation	Nasal irrigation	No steam inhalation	Steam inhalation
Female sex	299/428 (69.9)	317/442 (71.7)	311/442 (70.4)	305/428 (71.3)	324/465 (69.7)	358/494 (72.5)	337/478 (70.5)	345/481 (71.7)
Age, yr	52.46 ± 13.91	52.46 ± 14.31	52.21 ± 13.72	52.71 ± 14.50	51.88 ± 13.95	51.60 ± 14.48	51.70 ± 13.68	51.77 ± 14.73
Age left school, yr	17.90 ± 2.89	17.89 ± 3.02	18.03 ± 3.08	17.76 ± 2.82	17.91 ± 2.89	17.89 ± 3.02	18.03 ± 3.08	17.75 ± 2.81
History of allergic rhinitis or allergy	219/414 (52.9)	223/431 (51.7)	211/430 (49.1)	231/415 (55.7)	231/441 (52.4)	241/470 (51.3)	221/456 (48.5)	251/455 (55.2)
Never smoked	195/384 (50.8)	189/393 (48.1)	204/393 (51.9)	180/384 (46.9)	206/413 (49.9)	206/432 (47.7)	216/419 (51.6)	196/426 (46.0)
IMD score	21.29 ± 13.02	21.63 ± 13.31	21.54 ± 13.25	21.37 ± 13.08	22.34 ± 12.96	22.97 ± 13.16	22.52 ± 13.16	22.80 ± 12.96
Baseline severity (single-item sinus severity assessment)	2.77 ± 0.96	2.76 ± 0.90	2.73 ± 0.94	2.81 ± 0.91	2.77 ± 0.95	2.77 ± 0.90	2.74 ± 0.94	2.81 ± 0.90
Duration of sinus problems, yr	19.36 ± 16.21	18.70 ± 15.62	19.55 ± 16.47	18.48 ± 15.32	19.22 ± 16.26	18.01 ± 15.43	19.10 ± 16.28	18.12 ± 15.42
Characteristic	Randomization group; no. (%) or mean ± SD
	Participants with baseline primary outcome data				All participants
	Usual care	Nasal irrigation	Steam inhalation	Combined treatment	Usual care	Nasal irrigation	Steam inhalation	Combined treatment
Female sex	151/210 (71.9)	160/232 (69.0)	148/218 (67.9)	157/210 (74.8)	160/225 (71.1)	177/253 (70.0)	164/240 (68.3)	181/241 (75.1)
Age, yr	52.60 ± 13.66	51.85 ± 13.80	52.31 ± 14.18	53.13 ± 14.85	52.10 ± 13.61	51.35 ± 13.77	51.67 ± 14.29	51.87 ± 15.20
Age left school, yr	18.01 ± 2.95	18.05 ± 3.20	17.80 ± 2.83	17.71 ± 2.81	18.00 ± 2.95	18.05 ± 3.20	17.81 ± 2.82	17.70 ± 2.80
History of allergic rhinitis or allergy	107/203 (52.7)	104/227 (45.8)	112/211 (53.1)	119/204 (58.3)	111/212 (52.4)	110/244 (45.1)	120/229 (52.4)	131/226 (58.0)
Never smoked	98/187 (52.4)	106/206 (51.5)	97/197 (49.2)	83/187 (44.4)	102/196 (52.0)	114/223 (51.1)	104/217 (47.9)	92/209 (44.0)
IMD score	21.15 ± 13.32	21.90 ± 13.20	21.42 ± 12.74	21.32 ± 13.46	22.05 ± 13.27	22.95 ± 13.07	22.62 ± 12.68	22.98 ± 13.27
Baseline severity (single-item sinus severity assessment)	2.72 ± 0.95	2.74 ± 0.93	2.82 ± 0.96	2.78 ± 0.86	NA	NA	NA	NA
Duration of sinus problems, yr	20.01 ± 17.05	19.14 ± 15.95	18.75 ± 15.39	18.20 ± 15.27	19.72 ± 16.92	18.55 ± 15.70	18.78 ± 15.68	17.43 ± 15.14

Note: IMD = Index of Multiple Deprivation, NA = not applicable, SD = standard deviation.

^*Measured on 7-point Likert scale from not at all bad to extremely bad; higher scores indicate increased severity.⁹