TABLE 2.

Characteristics of study participants

Subjects	14
Age years	54 (36–70)
Female/male	8/6
Smoking status (never/past/current)	10/4/0
Body mass index kg·m−2	24.2 (22.1–31.0)
Asthma-onset age years	37 (10–55)
Asthma duration years	17 (5–35)
Type 2 inflammation (no/yes)#	0/14
Asthma Control Test score¶	18 (12–22)
FEV1 % pred¶	68 (51–89)
Fixed airflow obstruction+	8
Chronic rhinosinusitis¶	8
Frequency of exacerbations in the last 12 months¶	3 (2–8)
Frequency of emergency room visits or hospitalisations for asthma exacerbation in the last 12 months¶	2 (0–6)
Asthma treatment step¶
GINA step 4	4
GINA step 5	10
Number of patients taking OCS¶	14
Taking OCS as needed	5
Taking OCS maintenance	9
Total OCS dose in the last 12 months mg§	900 (420–2775)

Data are presented as n or median (range). FEV₁: forced expiratory volume in 1 s; % pred: % predicted; GINA: Global Initiative for Asthma; OCS: oral corticosteroid. ^#: defined as yes if the patient had at least one of the following: induced sputum eosinophils ≥3%, blood eosinophils ≥450 cell·µL⁻¹ or fractional exhaled nitric oxide ≥30 ppb. ^¶: information at the time of recruitment. ⁺: defined by postbronchodilator FEV₁ % pred <70%. ^§: prednisolone-equivalent dose.