Table 1.
Baseline clinical characteristics of the 245 patients included from the SAAS cohort
| Age at asthma diagnosis < 40 years n = 83 |
Age at asthma diagnosis 40–59.9 years n = 115 |
Age at asthma diagnosis ≥ 60 years n = 47 |
p-value | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age, years | 29.2 ± 7.0 | 50.6 ± 5.3 | 68.0 ± 5.3 | NA |
| Gender male | 33 (39.8%) | 48 (41.7%) | 22 (46.8%) | 0.733 |
| BMI kg·m− 2 | 25.5 (23.1–30.0) | 27.1 (24.3–30.1) | 28.7 (26.4–31.6) a | 0.006 |
| Smoking status | 0.003 | |||
| Never smokers | 46 (55.4%) | 49 (42.6%) | 23 (48.9%) | |
| Ex-smokers | 14 (16.9%) | 43 (37.4%) a | 20 (42.6%) a | |
| Current smokers | 23 (27.7%) | 23 (20.0%) | 4 (8.5%) a | |
| Pack-years (of ex/current smokers) | 5 (3–18) | 15 (7–20) a | 24 (10–38) a,b | < 0.001 |
| Steroid medication in use | 4 (4.9%) | 10 (8.7%) | 4 (8.5%) | 0.582 |
| B-eosinophils ×109/L | 0.30 (0.19–0.46) | 0.22 (0.16–0.40) | 0.24 (0.18–0.45) | 0.341 |
| IgE kU/L c | 98 (38–237) | 75 (28–145) | 71 (21–138) | 0.108 |
| Skin prick positive | 41 (54.7%) | 30 (29.1%) a | 6 (14.6%) a | < 0.001 |
Data is shown as n (%), mean ± SD, or median (interquartile range). NA not analyzed, BMI body mass index, B blood, IgE immunoglobulin E
a: as compared to group: Age at asthma diagnosis < 40 years p < 0.05
b as compared to group: Age at asthma diagnosis 40–59.9 years p < 0.05
c: data available on 187 patients