Table 1. Characteristics of the asthma and COPD participants at exacerbation.
| Characteristic | Primary Respiratory Diagnosis | P-value | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Asthma (n = 59) | COPD (n = 22) | ||
| Male, n (%) | 20 (34) | 14 (64) | 0.02 |
| Current smokers, n (%) | 15 (25) | 6 (27) | <0.001 |
| Ex-smokers, n (%) | 18 (31) | 16 (73) | |
| Never smoker, n (%) | 26 (44) | 0 (0) | |
| Number taking ICS, n (%) | 33 (56) | 7 (32) | 0.05 |
| Increased wheeze at exacerbation, n (%) | 51 (86) | 19 (86) | 0.99 |
| Age (years) | 41 (28–55) | 67 (60–72) | <0.001 |
| Pack year history | 0.3 (0.0–12.4) | 33.9 (16.0–52.5) | <0.001 |
| Number of hospital admissions in previous 12 months | 0 (0–1) | 0 (0–1) | 0.68 |
| Oxygen saturation (%) | 95 (94–97) | 93 (91–95) | <0.001 |
| VAS cough (mm) | 55 (26–72) | 42 (25–53) | 0.22 |
| VAS breathlessness (mm) | 70 (29–84) | 76 (44–97) | 0.20 |
| VAS sputum production (mm) | 19 (2–48) | 21 (1–41) | 0.96 |
| VAS sputum purulence (mm) | 5 (0–48) | 23 (0–53) | 0.29 |
| Leucocytes, (x10⁹cells/L) | 10.8 (8.9–12.2) | 10.7 (9.1–15.5) | 0.25 |
| Neutrophils (x10⁹cells/L) | 7.9 (5.4–9.5) | 7.9 (5.9–12.2) | 0.19 |
| Eosinophils (x10⁹cells/L) | 0.2 (0.0–0.4) | 0.1 (0.0–0.3) | 0.65 |
| CRP (mg/L) | 7.2 (1.7–23.6) | 17.3 (1.8–58.1) | 0.14 |
Definition of abbreviations: ICS = inhaled corticosteroids; CRP = C-reactive protein.
Measures of central tendency and spread: all variables are presented as median (IQR) or as number (%) of instances. Comparisons between asthma and COPD are made using chi-squared or wilcox test as appropriate. P-values are reported to 2dp unless the p-value is less than 0.001, in which case it is reported as <0.001.