TABLE 1.
Demographics, disease severity, clinical, radiological, functional and microbiological characteristics of the study population
| Variables | Study population (n=401) |
| Demographics | |
| Female sex | 317 (79.1%) |
| Age, years | 63 (50–71) |
| Body mass index, kg·m−2 | 21.5 (19.5–24.0) |
| Underweight | 58 (14.6%) |
| Former or current smoker | 180 (44.9%) |
| Comorbidities | |
| GORD | 180 (44.9%) |
| Rhinosinusitis | 138 (34.4%) |
| Cardiovascular diseases | 142 (35.4%) |
| Systemic hypertension | 93 (23.2%) |
| Asthma | 60 (15.0%) |
| Osteoporosis | 69 (17.2%) |
| COPD | 32 (8.0%) |
| Depression | 34 (8.5%) |
| Anxiety | 27 (6.7%) |
| History of neoplastic disease | 56 (14.0%) |
| Diabetes | 17 (4.2%) |
| BACI score | 0 (0–3) |
| Functional evaluation | |
| FEV1, % pred | 87 (71–101) |
| FEV1 <50% pred | 30 (7.9) |
| FVC, % pred, mean±sd | 97.5±21.7 |
| Microbiology | |
| Chronic infection | 120 (35.9%) |
| Chronic Pseudomonas aeruginosa infection | 76 (22.7%) |
| Chronic Haemophilus influenzae infection | 20 (6.0%) |
| NTM-PD | 41 (12.2%) |
| Clinical status | |
| Exacerbations | 2 (1–3) |
| ≥3 exacerbations in the previous year | 132 (32.9%) |
| LTOT | 19 (4.7%) |
| Daily sputum | 267 (66.6%) |
| Sputum volume, mL | 6 (4–20) |
| Chronic treatment | |
| Chronic macrolide therapy | 40 (10.0%) |
| Chronic antibiotic inhaled therapy | 21 (5.2%) |
| Radiology | |
| Reiff score | 4 (2–6) |
| Number of lobes involved | 3 (2–5) |
| Disease severity | |
| BSI score | 6 (3–9) |
| BSI moderate–severe | 244 (63.9%) |
| BSI severe | 98 (25.7%) |
| FACED score | 2 (1–3) |
| FACED moderate–severe | 141 (36.0%) |
Data are presented as median (interquartile range) unless otherwise stated. GORD: gastro-oesophageal reflux disease; COPD: chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; BACI: before, after, control, impact; FEV1: forced expiratory volume in 1 s; FVC: forced vital capacity; NTM-PD: nontuberculous mycobacterial pulmonary disease; LTOT: long-term oxygen therapy; BSI: bronchiectasis severity index; FACED: FEV1, age, chronic colonisation, extension, dyspnoea.