Table 1.
Characteristics of the study cohorts by asthma
| Variables | Without Asthma (n=1577) | With Asthma (n=169) | P# |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baseline† | |||
| Age, yrs | 29.5 (15.0, 34.0) | 22.5 (14.0, 32.0) | <0.01 |
| Female, n (%) | 920 (58.3) | 97 (57.4) | 0.81 |
| Blacks, n (%) | 465 (29.5) | 65 (23.1) | 0.02 |
| Follow-up observations‡, n (%) | 3606 (91.4) | 338 (8.6) | |
| Individuals with # times of follow-ups‡, n (%) | <0.01 | ||
| 1 time | 675 (42.8) | 89 (52.7) | |
| 2 times | 189 (12.0) | 22 (13.0) | |
| 3 times | 299 (19.0) | 27 (16.0) | |
| 4 times | 414 (26.2) | 31 (18.3) | |
| Follow-up‡, years | 11.1 (5.5, 13.0) | 11.2 (3.1, 16.9) | 0.51 |
| Follow-up† (last measurement) | |||
| Age, yrs | 37.0 (30.0, 43.0) | 36.0 (26.0, 41.0) | 0.02 |
| Current smokers, n (%) | 483 (30.6) | 46 (27.2) | 0.36 |
| BMI, kg/m2 | 29.3 (7.7) | 30.8 (8.1) | 0.02 |
| SBP, mm Hg | 115.3 (14.3) | 116.0 (13.9) | 0.57 |
| Heart rate, beats per min | 70.9 (9.2) | 70.7 (9.3) | 0.75 |
| Total cholesterol, mg/dL | 189.2 (39.7) | 185.9 (38.4) | 0.31 |
| Low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, mg/dL | 121.9 (34.3) | 118.0 (31.9) | 0.13 |
| Fasting glucose, mg/dL | 84.0 (78.0, 92.0) | 86.0 (78.0, 92.0) | 0.47 |
| Medication for high blood pressure, n (%) | 207 (13.1) | 31 (18.3) | 0.08 |
| Medication for dyslipidemia, n (%) | 87 (5.5) | 9 (5.3) | 1.00 |
| Medication for diabetes, n (%) | 57 (3.6) | 7 (4.1) | 0.90 |
Continuous variables were described as either means (standard deviation) if normal distribution satisfied, or medians (Interquartile range) if normal distribution is unsatisfied.
In the follow-ups, 764 participants were with just one-time follow-up measurement, and the rest of 982 participants were with 2 to 4 repeated follow-up af-PWV measurements, which added up to a total of 3180 observations. The follow-up years were calculated starting from the baseline questionnaire until the last af-PWV measurement.
Two groups’ characteristics were compared using the Student’s t-test or Kruskal-Wallis test for continuous variables, and chi-square test for categorical variables.
BMI, body mass index; SBP, systolic blood pressure.