Table 3.
Secondary endpoints
| Low altitude | High altitude | Between group difference of changes from BL to 3 weeks | Between group difference of changes from BL to 3 months | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Baseline | End of rehabilitation (3 weeks) |
Follow-up (3 months) |
Baseline | End of rehabilitation (3 weeks) |
Follow-up (3 months) |
|||
| FEV1, %pred. | 61 (42;77) | 96 (54;80)* | 71 (58;83)* | 64 (59;71) | 78 (67;83)*** | 72 (58;85)* | 3.6 (−4.9 to 10.9) | 1.7 (-7.3 to 9.6) |
| FVC, %pred. | 83 (63;93) | 87 (79;96)* | 87 (77;94) | 82 (74;92) | 91 (83;98)** | 84 (78;95) | 1.5 (−5.5 to 10.2) | −.45 (-7.0 to 6.1) |
| FEV1/ FVC, pre | .63 (.52;.69) | .63 (.53;.70) | .67 (.54;.70)* | .67 (.59;.71) | .70 (.63;.75)*** | .69 (.6;.75)** | .01 (−.03 to .05) | .01 (−.04 to .06) |
| 6MWD, m | 490 (452;510) | 521 (493;549)*** | 504 (486;536)* | 536 (491;571) | 571 (522;624)** | 570 (517;607) | −2 (-24 to 22) | 4 (-26 to 31) |
| STS, repetitions | 21 (19;24) | 24 (21;26)** | 25 (22;28)** | 25 (23;28) | 36 (30;40)*** | 30 (27;39)*** | 7 (4 to 11) | 4 (0 to 7) |
| FeNO, ppb | 37 (25;58) | 19 (36;51) | – | 51 (35;76) | 27 (23;52)** | – | −18 (−36 to 0) | |
| Hemoglobin, g/l | 139 (131;150) | 139 (125;145) | 142 (127;158) | 145 (138;166) | 7 (4 to 11) | |||
| EOS, 10^9/l | .39 (.28;.63) | .31 (.18;.57) | .38 (.28;.57) | .26 (.18;.45) | −.05 (−.16 to .04) | |||
| EOS, % | 6.3 (5.0;9.3) | 5.4 (2.7;7.1)* | – | 6.2 (5.1;8.6) | 3.9 (2.4;6.5)*** | – | −1.1 (−2.6 to 0.5) | |
Note: Data are given as median (quartiles) and median difference (confidence interval)
Abbreviations: FEV1 forced expiratory volume in 1 s, FVC forced vital capacity, 6MWD 6 min walking distance, STS Sit-to-stand, FeNO exhaled nitric oxid, EOS blood eosinophils
*: p < 0.05; **: p < 0.01; ***: p < 0.001 tested with Wilcoxon test for paired samples (baseline vs. 3 week follow up and baseline vs. 3 months follow up); bold: significant between group differences