Table 1.
characteristics of the included studies, overall and in the two subgroups (“true” and ICS-placebos)
| All studies | “True” placebos | ICS-placebos | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| N | Median | Range | N | Median | Range | N | Median | Range | |
| Patients | 55 | 207 | (43–1524) | 21 | 219 | (56–1524) | 34 | 197.5 | (43–753) |
| Study duration (yr) | 55 | 0.4808 | (0.2308–3) | 21 | 0.4615 | (0.2308–3) | 34 | 0.5 | (0.2308–1) |
| Mean followup (yr) | 55 | 0.4327 | (0.1986–2.2596) | 21 | 0.4296 | (0.2184–2.2596) | 34 | 0.4481 | (0.1987–0.9024) |
| Mean age (yr) | 54 | 63.9 | (58.8–68.6) | 21 | 64.9 | (58.8–68.2) | 33 | 63.5 | (60–68.6) |
| Males (%) | 55 | 74.4 | (32.9–100) | 21 | 75 | (32.9–94.2) | 34 | 72.9 | (51.6–100) |
| Smokers (%) | 45 | 43.4 | (16.9–63) | 19 | 39.7 | (23–63) | 26 | 44.65 | (16.9–56) |
| Mean pack-years | 44 | 44 | (29.4–60.2) | 18 | 43.75 | (31.6–56.1) | 26 | 44.3 | (29.4–60.2) |
| Mean FEV-1 | 50 | 50.25 | (36–73.2) | 20 | 47.8 | (36–73.2) | 30 | 52.6 | (40.3–71.5) |
| Mean SGRQ | 28 | 46.52 | (33.1–55.6) | 10 | 47.55 | (42.59–55.6) | 18 | 46.07 | (33.1–52) |