Table A2.
Baseline characteristics of the study population (Probiotic n = 56, Placebo n = 53), split by history of recent URTI (presence or absence of URTI within past 4 weeks). No significant differences were noted between interventions within each subpopulation.
| Parameters | No Recent URTIProbiotic (n = 32) | No Recent URTI Placebo (n = 39) |
p-Value | Recent URTI Probiotic (n = 24) |
Recent URTI Placebo (n = 14) |
p-Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age (y, median and range) | 29.0 (21–58) | 28.0 (21–63) | 0.959 | 32.0 (21–48) | 28.5 (22–52) | 0.555 |
| Sex (num. female, %) | 21 (65.5%) | 26 (66.7%) | 0.927 | 18 (75.0%) | 12 (85.7%) | 0.441 |
| Body Mass Index (median and range) | 22.4 (18.4–31.3) | 22.8 (16.8–39.1) | 0.383 | 22.7 (17.7–35.4) | 21.5 (16.7–35.2) | 0.820 |
| Smoker (num. yes, %) | 0 (0%) | 0 (0%) | 1.000 | 1 (4.2%) | 0 (0%) | 0.445 |
| Hospitalization within 4 week (num. yes, %) | 1 (3.1%) | 3 (7.7%) | 0.410 | 2 (8.3%) | 1 (7.1%) | 0.897 |
| Blood hemoglobin (g/L, mean and SD) | 138.3 (15.2) | 138.2 (16.1) | 0.996 | 135.8 (17.1) | 129.2 (11.4) | 0.206 |
| White cell count (×109/L, mean and SD) | 6.9 (1.8) | 7.3 (2.0) | 0.402 | 7.5 (1.8) | 7.4 (3.3) | 0.945 |
| Urban living (num. yes, %) | 15 (48.7%) | 19 (46.9%) | 0.878 | 14 (60.9%) | 8 (57.1%) | 0.825 |
| URTIs within 4 week | ||||||
|
0 (0%) | 0 (0%) | 1.000 | 3 (12.5%) | 1 (7.1%) | 0.444 |
|
0 (0%) | 0 (0%) | 5 (20.8%) | 2 (14.3%) | ||
|
0 (0%) | 0 (0%) | 16 (66.7%) | 11 (78.6%) | ||
|
32 (100%) | 39 (100%) | 0 (0%) | 0 (0%) | ||
| URTI-related medication within 4 week (num. yes, %) | 2 (6.3%) | 2 (5.1%) | 0.839 | 3 (14.3%) | 2 (12.5%) | 0.877 |