Table 5.

Analysis of FEV₁%Pred Decline in Relation to Inflammatory Markers, With Allowance for Smoking, Gender, and High Starting FEV₁%Pred

Parameters*	Annual Decline in Low Group, %/yr†	Additional Decline in FEV1%Pred in the High Group
		%/yr	95% CI	p Value	Obs‡	No.
Fibrinogen, ≥ 3.95 g/L (plasma)	− 0.78	− 0.40	− 0.72 to − 0.08	0.014	3,019	129
IL-6 ≥ 99.6 pg/mL (sputum)	− 0.73	− 0.42	− 0.77 to − 0.07	0.018	2,280	88
IL-8 ≥ 3,125 pg/mL (sputum)	− 0.79	− 0.28	− 0.65 to 0.09	0.142	1,877	68
Bacteria > 7.7 (log units)	− 0.76	− 0.51	− 0.88 to − 0.13	0.008	1,977	75
Neutrophil count ≥ 1.82 × 106 per gram of sputum	− 0.33	− 0.97	− 1.45 to − 0.49	< 0.001	1,290	45
Eosinophil count ≥ 25 × 103 per gram of sputum	− 0.45	− 0.76	− 0.13 to − 0.26	0.003	1,290	45

^*Including cut-off for inclusion in the high group.

^†The low groups contained patients whose initial stable values did not reach the cut-off.

^‡No. of FEV₁%Pred observations.