TABLE 1.
Sociodemographic and disease characteristics presented by asthma severity and practice type
| All (n=8351) | Primary care (n=1440) | Specialists (n=6872) | |||||
| Investigator-classified mild asthma (n=743) | Investigator-classified moderate-to-severe asthma (n=695) | All (n=1440) | Investigator-classified mild asthma (n=1210) | Investigator-classified moderate-to-severe asthma (n=5660) | All (n=6872) | ||
| Age (years) | |||||||
| Mean±sd | 49.4±16.7 | 45.8±16.8 | 50.2±16.4 | 47.9±16.7 | 44.7±18.0 | 50.8±16.2 | 49.7±16.7 |
| Median (IQR) | 51.0 (37.0–62.0) | 47.0 (34.0–58.0) | 51.0 (38.0–62.0) | 49.0 (36.0–60.0) | 44.0 (31.0–59.0) | 52.0 (39.0–63.0) | 51.0 (38.0–62.0) |
| Sex | |||||||
| Female | 5691 (68.1) | 535 (72.0) | 452 (65.0) | 988 (68.6) | 779 (64.4) | 3895 (68.8) | 4676 (68.0) |
| BMI (kg·m−2) | |||||||
| Mean±sd | 27.8±6.19 | 27.7±6.44 | 28.1±6.55 | 27.9±6.49 | 27.2±6.46 | 27.9±6.05 | 27.8±6.13 |
| BMI group (kg·m−2) | |||||||
| <18.5 | 256 (3.1) | 32 (4.3) | 15 (2.2) | 47 (3.3) | 61 (5.0) | 148 (2.6) | 209 (3.0) |
| ≥18.5–24.9 | 2619 (31.4) | 241 (32.4) | 232 (33.4) | 474 (32.9) | 402 (33.2) | 1734 (30.6) | 2136 (31.1) |
| ≥25.0–29.9 | 2954 (35.4) | 247 (33.2) | 230 (33.1) | 477 (33.1) | 430 (35.5) | 2031 (35.9) | 2463 (35.8) |
| ≥30.0 | 2522 (30.2) | 223 (30.0) | 218 (31.4) | 442 (30.7) | 317 (26.2) | 1747 (30.9) | 2064 (30.0) |
| Education level | |||||||
| Primary or secondary school | 2877 (34.5) | 346 (46.6) | 187 (26.9) | 533 (37.0) | 393 (32.5) | 1937 (34.2) | 2330 (33.9) |
| High school | 2013 (24.1) | 166 (22.3) | 151 (21.7) | 318 (22.1) | 373 (30.8) | 1312 (23.2) | 1685 (24.5) |
| University and/or post-university | 2792 (33.4) | 203 (27.3) | 297 (42.7) | 501 (34.8) | 392 (32.4) | 1887 (33.3) | 2281 (33.2) |
| Not established | 668 (8.0) | 28 (3.8) | 60 (8.6) | 88 (6.1) | 52 (4.3) | 523 (9.2) | 575 (8.4) |
| Missing data | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Healthcare/medication funding | |||||||
| Not reimbursed | 2281 (27.3) | 320 (43.1) | 191 (27.5) | 511 (35.5) | 444 (36.7) | 1317 (23.3) | 1762 (25.6) |
| Partially reimbursed | 1851 (22.2) | 152 (20.5) | 196 (28.2) | 348 (24.2) | 241 (19.9) | 1253 (22.1) | 1494 (21.7) |
| Fully reimbursed | 3940 (47.2) | 258 (34.7) | 281 (40.4) | 539 (37.4) | 507 (41.9) | 2871 (50.7) | 3379 (49.2) |
| Not specified | 276 (3.3) | 13 (1.7) | 27 (3.9) | 42 (2.9) | 18 (1.5) | 216 (3.8) | 234 (3.4) |
| Missing data | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| Smoking status history | |||||||
| Active smoker | 497 (6.0) | 27 (3.6) | 63 (9.1) | 91 (6.3) | 81 (6.7) | 322 (5.7) | 403 (5.9) |
| Former smoker | 1105 (13.2) | 97 (13.1) | 119 (17.1) | 216 (15.0) | 146 (12.1) | 741 (13.1) | 887 (12.9) |
| Never-smoker | 6747 (80.8) | 619 (83.3) | 513 (73.8) | 1133 (78.7) | 983 (81.2) | 4595 (81.2) | 5580 (81.2) |
| Missing values | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Asthma duration (years) | |||||||
| Mean±sd | 14.9±14.31 | 17.9±14.78 | 16.5±13.91 | 17.2±14.37 | 13.9±13.50 | 14.6±14.43 | 14.4±14.27 |
| Median (IQR) | 10.0 (4.0–21.0) | 13.0 (7.0–25.5) | 13.0 (6.0–22.0) | 13.0 (6.0–24.0) | 9.5 (4.0–20.0) | 10.0 (4.0–20.0) | 10.0 (4.0–20.0) |
| GINA treatment step | |||||||
| Step 1 | 714 (8.5) | 316 (42.5) | 0 (0) | 316 (21.9) | 396 (32.7) | 0 (0) | 396 (5.8) |
| Step 2 | 1244 (14.9) | 427 (57.5) | 0 (0) | 427 (29.7) | 814 (67.3) | 0 (0) | 814 (11.8) |
| Step 3 | 2279 (27.3) | 0 (0) | 371 (53.4) | 371 (25.8) | 0 (0) | 1900 (33.6) | 1900 (27.6) |
| Step 4 | 2872 (34.4) | 0 (0) | 261 (37.6) | 261 (18.2) | 0 (0) | 2595 (45.8) | 2595 (37.8) |
| Step 5 | 1237 (14.8) | 0 (0) | 63 (9.1) | 63 (4.4) | 0 (0) | 1165 (20.6) | 1165 (17.0) |
| Missing data | 5 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Comorbidities | |||||||
| None | 2962 (35.5) | 328 (44.1) | 264 (38.0) | 593 (41.2) | 535 (44.2) | 1822 (32.2) | 2358 (34.3) |
| 1–2 | 3900 (46.7) | 319 (42.9) | 276 (39.7) | 596 (41.4) | 512 (42.3) | 2773 (49.0) | 3286 (47.8) |
| 3–4 | 1228 (14.7) | 89 (12.0) | 126 (18.1) | 215 (14.9) | 136 (11.2) | 870 (15.4) | 1006 (14.6) |
| ≥5 | 261 (3.1) | 7 (0.9) | 29 (4.2) | 36 (2.5) | 27 (2.2) | 195 (3.4) | 222 (3.2) |
Data are presented as n (%) or n, unless otherwise stated. IQR: interquartile range; BMI: body mass index; GINA: Global Initiative for Asthma.