TABLE 1.
Demographics and baseline clinical characteristics of all included patients with asthma
| Country | |||||
| UK | Italy | France | Germany (GPs) | Germany (pulmonologists) | |
| Patients n | 417 737 | 75 523 | 110 918 | 77 013 | 21 494 |
| Age years | 42.4±19.1 | 46.2±19.6 | 42.7±19.6 | 43.5±18.5 | 47.5±17.7 |
| Female | 57.2 | 57.2 | 58.7 | 57.8 | 63.1 |
| BMI# | |||||
| Patients n | 376 439 | 69 730 | 98 129 | 71 823 | 20 352 |
| Mean±sd | 28.1±6.4 | 26.8±5.5 | 27.3±6.3 | 28.2±6.2 | 28.2±5.7 |
| <18.5 kg·m−2 | 1.8 | 3.1 | 3.6 | 1.8 | 1.0 |
| ≥18.5–<25 kg·m−2 | 33.1 | 38.0 | 37.3 | 31.9 | 31.7 |
| ≥25–<30 kg·m−2 | 33.1 | 34.3 | 30.2 | 33.6 | 34.4 |
| ≥30 kg·m−2 | 31.9 | 24.6 | 28.8 | 32.7 | 32.9 |
| Number of exacerbations during baseline period | |||||
| 0 | 88.5 | 82.1 | 70.5 | 95.8 | 96.6 |
| 1 | 9.1 | 14.6 | 25.0 | 3.8 | 3.2 |
| ≥2 | 2.4 | 3.3 | 4.5 | 0.5 | 0.2 |
| Asthma medication use during baseline period | |||||
| SABA only (inhaled) | 23.0 | 11.1 | 20.0 | 26.7 | 7.3 |
| Any ICS medication | 71.6 | 79.6 | 58.0 | 60.2 | 72.7 |
| ICS/LABA or ICS+LABA | 30.8 | 47.1 | 43.8 | 41.8 | 51.0 |
| ICS/LABA/LAMA or ICS/LABA+LAMA | 0.5 | 1.1 | 0.9 | 0.3 | 0.9 |
| Any LTRA | 4.2 | 9.6 | 10.4 | 2.1 | 5.5 |
| Any theophylline | 0.5 | 1.2 | 0.4 | 1.6 | 3.4 |
| Other anti-allergic agents | 15.9 | 27.3 | 37.7 | 7.7 | 3.4 |
| Asthma severity during baseline period | |||||
| Mild (GINA steps 1–2) | 42.4 | 41.4 | 44.0 | 50.9 | 38.0 |
| Moderate (GINA step 3) | 33.1 | 15.5 | 20.8 | 32.0 | 31.6 |
| Severe (GINA steps 4–5) | 24.5 | 43.1 | 35.1 | 17.1 | 30.4 |
| Comorbidities | |||||
| Cardio-cerebrovascular disease | 5.4 | 8.3 | 5.0 | 9.0 | 2.5 |
| Cerebrovascular accident: stroke | 2.9 | 6.1 | 2.8 | 4.5 | 0.9 |
| Heart failure | 1.7 | 2.0 | 1.5 | 4.4 | 1.2 |
| Myocardial infarction | 1.6 | 1.2 | 1.1 | 1.8 | 0.6 |
| Renal impairment | 7.2 | 3.7 | 3.1 | 3.4 | 0.1 |
| Type 2 diabetes mellitus | 11.4 | 5.5 | 7.5 | 9.3 | 2.1 |
| Glaucoma | 2.0 | 3.9 | 1.7 | 1.4 | 0.5 |
| Osteoporosis | 3.4 | 12.1 | 4.6 | 4.3 | 1.5 |
| Peptic ulcer | 1.8 | 2.8 | 2.5 | 2.0 | 0.1 |
| Pneumonia | 4.2 | 4.5 | 8.0 | 7.4 | 3.2 |
Data are presented as mean±sd or %, unless otherwise stated. UK: United Kingdom; GPs: general physicians; BMI: body mass index; SABA: short-acting β2-agonists; ICS: inhaled corticosteroids; LABA: long-acting β2-agonists; LAMA: long-acting muscarinic antagonists; LTRA: leukotriene receptor antagonists; GINA: Global Initiative for Asthma. #: calculated for adult patients only.