Table 5.

Distribution of Lung Function Trajectory Patterns in Patients with Severe Asthma

Lung Function Trajectory	Total Number*	Late Adolescence† [n (%)]	Early Adulthood‡ [n (%)]	Stayed Severe§ [n (%)]
Normal growth	21	6 (11)	14 (14)	1 (4)
Normal growth with early decline	23	6 (11)	17 (17)	0 (0)
Reduced growth	74	25 (45)	34 (33)	15 (58)
Reduced growth with early decline	66	18 (33)	38 (37)	10 (38)

Lung function trajectory patterns were as follows: normal growth (FEV₁ growth curve almost always at or above the 25th percentile) versus reduced growth (FEV₁ growth curve almost always below the 25th percentile) and early decline (earlier-than-expected decrease in FEV₁) versus no decline (see Reference 18).

^*N = 184 with available data.

^†Age: 17–19 years; n = 55.

^‡Age: 21–23 years; n = 103.

^§The “Stayed Severe” column refers to patients aged 21–23 years (n = 26) who had a persistence of severe asthma from late adolescence to early adulthood.