Table 4.

Planned covariate analyses.

Parameter	Analysis
Race/ethnic group	African American/Black versus Hispanic/Latinx
Smoking status	Current (has smoked within 1 year) and former smokers (≥10 pack-years and has not smoked within 1 year) versus non-smokers (≤10 pack-years and has not smoked within 1 year)
Fractional exhaled nitric oxide (FeNO)	High versus low FeNO at baseline, based upon two different thresholds [≥20 parts per billion (ppb) versus <20 ppb, and ≥ 30 ppb versus <30 ppb]
Blood eosinophil count	High versus low blood eosinophil count at baseline (≥300 cells/μL versus <300 cells/μL)
Questionnaire modality	Paper/telephone versus online (defined as ≥80% of monthly questionnaires completed online)
Attitude toward ICS	As a continuous variable based on the differential between the Necessity and Concern subscales of the Asthma-Specific Beliefs about Medicine Questionnaire (BMQ)a
Depressive symptoms	Presence of depressive symptoms [Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-2)b score ≥ 3] versus absence (PHQ-2 score < 3)
Health literacy status	Low/marginal versus high based on the Brief Health Literacy Scale (BHLS)c
Body mass index (BMI)	As a continuous variable
Medication use at baseline	ICS/LABA versus ICS
Comorbidities	Presence versus absence at baseline of heart disease, cancer, stroke, diabetes, chronic kidney disease, COPD, Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV)/Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS), and hypertension
Exacerbation history	Presence versus absence of an asthma exacerbation within 12 months prior to randomization
Self-perceived discrimination	As a continuous variable based on the short version of the Everyday Discrimination Scaled
Self-reported medication adherence	As a continuous variable based on the Medication Adherence Report Scale (MARS-5)e

^aThe Asthma-Specific BMQ has 2 scales: the Necessity Scale (measures patients’ beliefs about the necessity of ICS for managing asthma) and the Concerns Scale (measures patients’ concerns about negative consequences of using ICS). A higher score on the Necessity Scale combined with a lower score on the Concerns scale indicates a more accepting attitude toward ICS.

^bPHQ-2 asks two questions that screen for depression. Each question has a score ranging from 0 to 3. The total PHQ-2 score ranges from 0 to 6, with higher scores indicating greater presence of depressive symptoms.

^cThe BHLS consists of 3 items. The scores on items 1 and 3 range from 1 to 4; the score on item 2 ranges from 1 to 5. Higher scores indicate higher subjective health literacy. A participant is considered to have high health literacy if he/she receives a score of 4 on items 1 and 3, and a score of 4 or 5 on item 2. Otherwise the participant is considered to have low/moderate health literacy.

^dThe short version of the Everyday Discrimination Scale has 5 items with each item’s score ranging from 1 to 6. The total score ranges from 5 to 30, with higher scores indicating a higher degree of perceived discrimination.

^eThe MARS-5 is a 5-item questionnaire that measures patients’ self-reported medication adherence. Each item has a score ranging from 1 to 5. Total scores range from 1 to 25, with higher scores indicating higher self-reported adherence.