Table 1.
Baseline characteristics
| UC + BrEX (n = 94) | UC (n = 99) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sex | ||||||
| Female | — | 58 | (61.7%) | — | 64 | (64.7%) |
| Male | — | 36 | (38.3%) | — | 35 | (35.4%) |
| Age at inclusion | — | 55 | (44–65) | — | 51 | (42–61) |
| Smoking status | ||||||
| Never-smokers | — | 89 | (55.3%) | — | 95 | (65.7%) |
| Smokers | — | 5 | (5.3%) | — | 4 | (4.0%) |
| Former smokers | — | 37 | (39.4%) | — | 30 | (30.3%) |
| Body mass index | ||||||
| Underweight | — | 1 | (1.1%) | — | 1 | (1.0%) |
| Normal weight | — | 24 | (25.5%) | — | 22 | (22.2%) |
| Overweight | — | 29 | (30.9%) | — | 44 | (44.4%) |
| Obese | — | 26 | (27.7%) | — | 20 | (20.2%) |
| Severely obese | — | 8 | (8.5%) | — | 7 | (7.1%) |
| Extremely obese | — | 6 | (6.4%) | — | 5 | (5.1%) |
| PROMs | ||||||
| Mini-AQLQ | — | 4.3 | (3.7–5.1) | — | 4.4 | (3.6–5.1) |
| ACQ6 | — | 2.2 | (1.5–2.7) | — | 2.0 | (1.2–2.7) |
| NQ* | — | 22.9 | (10.9) | — | 23.1 | (11.3) |
| HADS-anxiety | — | 5 | (3–10) | — | 6 | (3–9) |
| HADS-depression | — | 3 | (1–7) | — | 3 | (1–6) |
| EQ-5D-5L index | — | 0.742 | (0.648–0.859) | — | 0.754 | (0.700–0.824) |
| EQ-5D-5L VAS* | — | 62.0 | (20.7) | — | 62.1 | (19.0) |
| GINA steps | ||||||
| 1 | — | 0 | (0%) | — | 0 | (0%) |
| 2 | — | 1 | (1.1%) | — | 2 | (2.0%) |
| 3 | — | 16 | (17.0%) | — | 13 | (13.1%) |
| 4 | — | 31 | (33.0%) | — | 34 | (34.3%) |
| 5 | — | 46 | (48.9%) | — | 50 | (50.5%) |
| Inhaled corticosteroids | ||||||
| None | — | 1 | (1.1%) | — | 1 | (1.0%) |
| Low | — | 18 | (19.2%) | — | 20 | (20.2%) |
| Moderate | — | 33 | (35.1%) | — | 30 | (30.3%) |
| High | — | 42 | (44.7%) | — | 48 | (48.5%) |
| Number of second controller(s) | ||||||
| None | — | 5 | (5.3%) | — | 4 | (4.0%) |
| 1 | — | 41 | (43.6%) | — | 45 | (45.5%) |
| 2 | — | 30 | (31.9%) | — | 35 | (35.4%) |
| 3 | — | 14 | (14.9%) | — | 13 | (13.1%) |
| 4+ | — | 4 | (4.3%) | — | 2 | (2.0%) |
| Oral corticosteroids† | — | 6 | (6.4%) | — | 2 | (2.0%) |
| Biological treatment | — | 13 | (13.8%) | — | 9 | (9.1%) |
| Objective measures | ||||||
| 6-min-walk test (m) | (n = 90) | 467 | (422–528) | (n = 97) | 469 | (417–515) |
| Borg CR10 (resting) | (n = 94) | 1 | (0.3–2.5) | (n = 99) | 2 | (0.5–2.5) |
| FEV1% predicted | (n = 85) | 80 | (73–87) | (n = 91) | 80 | (66–90) |
| FEV1:FVC ratio | (n = 85) | 0.73 | (0.66–0.80) | (n = 91) | 0.73 | (0.67–0.79) |
| PEFR (L/min) | (n = 85) | 359 | (308–421) | (n = 91) | 355 | (282–434) |
| Steps per day (avg 6 d) | (n = 41) | 7046 | (4637–9517) | (n = 44) | 7278 | (4899–10175) |
| PAL (avg 6 d) | (n = 41) | 1.5 | (1.4–1.6) | (n = 44) | 1.5 | (1.4–1.6) |
Definition of abbreviations: ACQ6 = 6-item Asthma Control Questionnaire; Borg CR10= Borg Category-Ratio10; EQ-5D-5L = EuroQol (EQ-5D) instrument, 5 dimensions 5 levels generic quality of life; FEV1%predicted = predicted percentage of forced expiratory volume in the first second; FVC = forced vital capacity; GINA = Global Initiative for Asthma; HADS = Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale; Mini-AQLQ = Mini-Asthma Quality of Life Questionnaire; NQ = Nijmegen Questionnaire; PAL = average physical activity level per day; PEFR = peak expiratory flow rate; PROMs = patient-reported outcome measures; UC = usual care alone; UC + BrEX = breathing exercises and usual care; VAS = visual analogue scale.
Data are reported as medians with interquartile range and frequency with percentage unless otherwise indicated.
Means and standard deviations.
Maintenance oral corticosteroids.