Table 1.
Comparison of demographic and clinical features of patients.a
| Variables | All patients (n = 359) | Group 1 (n = 212) | Group 2 (n = 147) | p valueb |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age (years) | 64 (58, 69) | 63 (59, 63) | 65 (58, 70) | 0.609 |
| Disease durations (years) | 7 (4, 11) | 7 (4, 10) | 7 (5, 12) | 0.350 |
| Body mass index (kg/m2) | 25 (22, 30) | 25 (22, 30) | 25 (21, 29) | 0.184 |
| Men n (%) | 325 (90.5) | 188 (88.7) | 137 (93.2) | 0.286 |
| Education n (%) | ||||
| Primary school* | 158 (44.0) | 64 (30.2) | 93 (63.3) | <0.001** |
| High school* | 191 (53.2) | 142 (67.0) | 50 (34.0) | <0.001** |
| University | 10 (2.8) | 6 (2.2) | 4 (2.7) | 0.610 |
| Income n (%) | ||||
| Low | 82 (22.8) | 41 (19.3) | 41 (27.9) | 0.057 |
| Middle | 261 (72.7) | 158 (74.5) | 103 (70.1) | 0.350 |
| High | 16 (4.5) | 13 (6.1) | 3 (2.0) | 0.064 |
| Living alone n (%)* | 37 (10.3) | 12 (5.7) | 25 (17.0) | <0.001** |
| Smoking history n (%) | ||||
| Smoker | 14 (3.9) | 3 (1.4) | 11 (7.5) | 0.003** |
| Ex-smoker | 314 (87.5) | 189 (89.1) | 125 (85.0) | 0.246 |
| Never smoked | 31 (8.6) | 20 (9.5) | 11 (7.5) | 0.517 |
| Smoking consumption (person-years) | 60 (40, 80) | 60 (40, 80) | 55 (35, 90) | 0.965 |
| CCI | 3 (3, 4) | 3 (3, 4) | 3 (3, 4) | 0.455 |
| Devices n (%) | ||||
| Nebulizer | 73 (20.3) | 25 (11.8) | 48 (32.7) | <0.001** |
| LTOT | 80 (22.3) | 39 (18.4) | 41 (27.9) | 0.033** |
| NIMV | 19 (5.3) | 15 (7.1) | 4 (2.7) | 0.069 |
| Hospital admission (n/last year) | 2 (0, 5) | 1 (0, 3) | 3 (1, 7) | 0.011** |
| Hospitalization (n/last year) | 0 (0, 1) | 0 (0, 1) | 0 (0, 2) | 0.198 |
CCI: Charlson Comorbidity Index; LTOT: long-term oxygen treatment; NIMV: noninvasive mechanical ventilation.
aData are expressed as median (interquartile range) or number (percentage).
bMann–Whitney U test and Fisher's Exact Test.
*p < 0.001, **p < 0.05.