TABLE 2.

General characteristics of patients at baseline ^b .

Characteristics	TCM group	Control group	χ 2 /F	p
Average age—years a	64.54 ± 6.50	63.00 ± 8.32	−0.849	0.399
Male sex—no. (%)	21 (60.0)	22 (68.75)	0.557	0.456
Han nationality—no. (%)	34 (97.14)	31 (96.88)	0.004	0.949
Education levels
Illiteracy/Semiliterate—no. (%)	1 (2.86)	1 (3.13)	9.596	0.143
Primary school—no. (%)	8 (22.86)	9 (28.13)
Junior middle school—no. (%)	7 (20.00)	11 (34.38)
Senior middle school—no. (%)	7 (20.00)	8 (25.00)
Junior college—no. (%)	10 (28.57)	1 (3.13)
Undergraduate—no. (%)	2 (5.71)	1 (3.13)
Postgraduate—no. (%)	0 (0)	1 (3.13)
Occupations
Worker—no. (%)	2 (5.71)	2 (6.25)	2.763	0.838
Farmer—no. (%)	10 (28.57)	13 (40.63)
Intellectual—no. (%)	1 (2.86)	1 (3.13)
Manager—no. (%)	2 (5.71)	0 (0)
Service—no. (%)	1 (2.86)	1 (3.13)
Retirement—no. (%)	18 (51.43)	14 (43.75)
Unemployed—no. (%)	1 (2.86)	1 (3.13)
Patients with smoking history—no. (%)	18 (51.43)	17 (53.13)	0.019	0.89
Patients with co-morbidity—no. (%)	6 (17.14)	9 (28.13)	1.16	0.281
Diseases duration—months a	27.97 ± 27.39	24.98 ± 25.69	−0.459	0.648
Annual numbers acute exacerbation a	1.06 ± 1.08	1.00 ± 1.07	−0.216	0.829
Scores of mMRC a	1.71 ± 0.66	1.56 ± 0.71	−0.898	0.372
6MWT—m a	342.57 ± 81.18	374.38 ± 87.67	1.542	0.128
Symptoms and signs total scors	8.54 ± 3.00	8.41 ± 2.38	0.651	0.838
mMRC scors	1.71 ± 0.66	1.56 ± 0.71	−0.898	0.372
CAT total scors	15.06 ± 6.66	13.22 ± 5.66	1.212	0.230
SGRQ total scors	47.86 ± 15.33	45.50 ± 17.92	0.314	0.563
SF-36 total scors	104.09 ± 15.73	104.91 ± 12.40	1.397	0.815
Lung function
FEV 1—L	1.91 ± 0.62	1.99 ± 0.54	0.565	0.574
FVC—L	2.36 ± 0.76	2.42 ± 0.83	0.312	0.756
DLCO%—%	40.26 ± 13.60	44.18 ± 15.73	0.453	0.278

^a Plus–minus values are means ± SD.

^b There were no statistical differences between the two groups in any characteristic at baseline.