TABLE 1.
Patient’s sociodemographic characteristics at omalizumab initiation (T0), medical history (3-year period before T0) and treatment history (year before T0)
| Adults | Children | |
| Patients | 16 750 | 2453 |
| Age (years) | 52.1±15.6 | 11.9±3.2 |
| Age group (years) | ||
| [6–12[ | 1072 (43.7) | |
| [12–18[ | 1381 (56.3) | |
| [18–65[ | 12 861 (76.8) | |
| ≥65 | 3889 (23.2) | |
| Female | 10 331 (61.7) | 1004 (40.9) |
| CMUc status | 1597 (9.5) | 473 (19.3) |
| Adjusted Charlson Comorbidity Index# | ||
| 1 or 2 | 9235 (55.1) | 2395 (97.6) |
| 3 or 4 | 4338 (25.9) | 41 (1.7) |
| ≥5 | 3177 (19.0) | 17 (0.7) |
| Comorbid conditions of interest | ||
| Disease of the digestive system | 7678 (45.8) | 286 (11.7) |
| Hypertension | 4987 (29.8) | 13 (0.5) |
| Depressive disorders | 2633 (15.7) | 38 (1.5) |
| Dyslipidaemia | 2423 (14.5) | 0 (0.0) |
| Diabetes | 1552 (9.3) | 16 (0.7) |
| Osteoporosis | 923 (5.5) | 0 (0.0) |
| Asthma characteristics | ||
| GINA Step 4–5 treatments to control asthma¶ | 11 145 (66.5) | 1141 (46.5) |
| High-dose ICS with (LABA or LAMA or LTRA or theophylline) | 7025 (41.9) | 693 (28.3) |
| ≥6 dispensations of OCS ≥5 mg daily with ≥1 ATC R03 drugs | 4771 (28.5) | 356 (14.5) |
| ≥6 dispensations of medium- or high-dose ICS with LABA plus ≥2 short courses of OCS | 9014 (53.8) | 844 (34.4) |
| Uncontrolled asthma¶ | 13 752 (82.1) | 2059 (83.9) |
| ≥2 short courses of OCS | 12 287 (73.4) | 1746 (71.2) |
| ≥1 hospital admission for asthma | 3873 (23.1) | 1019 (41.5) |
| ≥6 dispensations of SABA | 8308 (49.6) | 1277 (52.1) |
| Asthma treatments, alone or in association, ≥3 dispensations | ||
| ICS | 14 216 (84.9) | 2114 (86.2) |
| LABA | 13 817 (82.5) | 1928 (78.6) |
| LAMA | 4173 (24.9) | 31 (1.3) |
| SABA | 11 771 (70.3) | 1968 (80.2) |
| SAMA | 3258 (19.5) | 174 (7.1) |
| LTRA | 9198 (54.9) | 1557 (63.5) |
| Theophylline | 727 (4.3) | 40 (1.6) |
| Asthma treatment combination, ≥3 dispensations | ||
| ICS–LABA | 9616 (57.4) | 1891 (77.1) |
| ICS–LABA–LAMA | 4073 (24.3) | 28 (1.1) |
| ICS or ICS–LAMA or ICS–other ATC R03+ drug | 527 (3.1) | 195 (7.9) |
| Other treatments of interest, ≥1 dispensations | ||
| OCS | 14 667 (87.6) | 2141 (87.3) |
| Azithromycin | 2879 (17.2) | 334 (13.6) |
| Antibiotics, including azithromycin (ATC J01) | 14 223 (84.9) | 1739 (70.9) |
| Topical corticosteroids | 4176 (24.9) | 630 (25.7) |
| Nasal corticosteroids | 9841 (58.8) | 1645 (67.1) |
| Nasal antihistamine drugs | 444 (2.7) | 81 (3.3) |
| Systemic antihistamine drugs | 13 336 (79.6) | 2244 (91.5) |
| Epinephrine auto-injectors | 300 (1.8) | 252 (10.3) |
Data are presented as n, mean±sd or n (%). CMUc: Couverture Maladie Universelle Complémentaire (universal medical coverage; allocation that depends on annual income); GINA: Global Initiative for Asthma; ICS: inhaled corticosteroids; LABA: long-acting β2-adrenergic agonists; LAMA: long-acting muscarinic antagonists; LTRA: leukotriene receptor antagonists; OCS: oral corticosteroids; ATC: Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical; SABA: short-acting β2-adrenergic agonists; SAMA: short-acting muscarinic antagonists. #: the Charlson Comorbidity Index was first designed to predict mortality based on a weighted score for ranges of comorbid conditions; in medico-administrative databases, it is a method used to categorise comorbidities of patients based on healthcare resource use. ¶: supplementary appendix S2. +: drugs for obstructive airway diseases.