TABLE 2.
Participant characteristics
| All participants, except where noted | Moulds+ | Moulds− | SEs+ | SEs− | Healthy subjects | p-value# | p-value¶ | |
| Subjects n | 84 | 14 | 42 | 15 | 41 | 28 | ||
| General indices | ||||||||
| Age years | 60 (50, 67) | 62 (44, 66) | 61 (51, 67) | 63 (50, 66) | 60 (51, 68) | 59 (42, 67) | 0.61 | 0.68 |
| Female sex | 35 (42) | 3 (21)§ | 16 (46) | 2 (13)§ | 17 (41) | 16 (57) | 0.06 | 0.01 |
| Body mass index kg·m−2 | 23.3 (20.6, 25.3) | 24.0 (20.1, 26.3) | 23.5 (21.5, 25.1) | 22.7 (19.9, 26.0) | 23.9 (21.9, 25.5) | 21.6 (20.6, 24.3) | 0.59 | 0.43 |
| Smoking history, never | 45 (54) | 7 (50)§ | 16 (38)ƒ | 5 (33)§ | 18 (44)ƒ | 22 (79) | 0.003 | 0.003 |
| Pack-years## | 15.5 (5.3, 30) | 10 (1.6, 26.3) | 20 (7.3, 30) | 17.5 (8.1, 30.4) | 16.3 (5, 30) | 14 (4.9, 32) | 0.50 | 0.97 |
| Disease indices | ||||||||
| Past history of ESS¶¶ | 11 (20) | 3 (21) | 8 (19) | 4(27) | 7 (17) | |||
| Presence of asthma¶¶ | 20 (36) | 10 (71)+ | 10 (24) | 9 (60)+ | 11 (27) | |||
| Duration of sinusitis years¶¶ | 3 (1, 10) | 2.5 (1, 8) | 3.5(1, 10) | 2 (1, 7.5) | 3.5 (1, 10) | |||
| Duration of asthma years++ | 5 (1, 12) | 11 (4, 13) | 3 (1, 6) | 2.5 (1, 6) | 10 (3, 14) | |||
| ICS dose µg·day−1++ | 450 (340, 640) | 520 (380, 680) | 450 (240, 640) | 500 (360, 840) | 400 (320, 640) | |||
| GINA2015 Treatment step n (2/3, 4)++ | 10, 10 | 4, 6 | 6, 4 | 4, 5 | 6, 5 | |||
| Conventional allergen sensitisation¶¶ | ||||||||
Data are presented as median (25th percentile, 75th percentile) or n (%), unless otherwise stated. ESS: endoscopic sinus surgery; ICS: inhaled corticosteroid; mould: Alternaria and Aspergillus; SEs, Staphylococcus enterotoxins A and B; conventional allergens: house dust mite, dog dander, cat, Japanese cedar, mixed Gramineae and mixed weed; H: healthy subjects. #: Compared among moulds+, moulds− and H using Kruskal–Wallis test or Chi-squared test; ¶: compared among SEs+, SEs− and H using Kruskal–Wallis test or Chi-squared test; +: p<0.05 for moulds or SEs+ versus moulds or SEs−; §: p<0.05 for moulds or SEs+ versus H; ƒ: p<0.05 for moulds or SEs− versus H, analysed by Steel–Dwass analysis, Wilcoxon rank-sum test or Fischer's exact test. ##: n=46 (mould+/–: 7/26, SEs+/–: 10/23, H: 6); ¶¶: n=56; ++: n=20 (mould+/−: 10/10, SEs+/–: 9/11).