Table 3.
Clinical characteristics of the study groups
| Variable | Croup (N = 100,980) | Asthma (N = 37,408) | COPD (N = 8,696) | P-value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Duration of the disease, n; %: | ||||
| > 5 years | 13,807; 36.9 | 4,550; 51.7 | < 0.001 | |
| 4–5 years | 5,966; 15.9 | 1,846; 21.0 | ||
| 2–3 years | 7,363; 19.7 | 1,293; 14.7 | ||
| 12–23 months | 3,888; 10.4 | 258; 2.9 | ||
| 7–11 months | 2,384; 6.4 | 198; 2.2 | ||
| 3–6 months | 2,463; 6.6 | 515; 5.8 | ||
| < 3 months | 1,537; 4.1 | 149; 1.7 | ||
| Clinical symptoms, n; %: | ||||
| Fever | 26,458; 48.5 | |||
| Hoarseness | 40,461; 74.1 | |||
| Inhalation stridor | 28,400; 52.0 | |||
| Barking cough | 48,435; 88.7 | |||
| Wheezing | 14,443; 26.5 | |||
| Dyspnoea | 11,677; 21.4 | |||
| Faster breathing | 8,772; 16.1 | |||
| Visible movement of the wings of the nose | 2,238; 4.1 | |||
| Visible intercostal retraction | 2,021; 3.7 | |||
| Patients requiring hospitalization, n; % | 2,388; 4.4 | |||
| Severity of the disease, n; %: | ||||
| Mild | 22,942; 42.0 | |||
| Moderate | 28,788; 52.7 | |||
| Severe | 2,873; 5.3 | |||
| GINA criteria, n; %: | ||||
| Controlled asthma | 25,437; 68.0 | |||
| Partially controlled asthma | 10,287; 27.5 | |||
| Uncontrolled asthma | 1,684; 4.5 | |||
| GOLD criteria, n; %: | ||||
| Category A | 2,068; 23.1 | |||
| Category B | 4,229; 47.2 | |||
| Category C | 2,269; 25.3 | |||
| Category D | 403; 4.5 | |||
| Use of budesonide, n; %: | ||||
| Monotherapy | 34,779; 63.7 | 18,578; 49.7 | 1,211; 13.5 | |
| Polytherapy | 19,824; 36.3 | 18,830; 50.3 | 7,758; 86.5 | |
| Drugs used in polytherapy with budesonide (%): | ||||
| Formoterol | 25.1 | 40.8 | ||
| Salmeterol | 23.3 | 35.0 | ||
| Indacaterol | 1.9 | 10.7 | ||
| Exacerbation of the disease during the last 3 months (%): | ||||
| Once | 55.3 | 66.0 | ||
| Twice | 33.2 | 24.2 | ||
| More than twice | 11.5 | 9.8 | ||
| Hospitalization during the last 3 months (%): | 9.3 | 11.2 | ||
| Once | 80.1 | 86.4 | ||
| Twice | 17.2 | 8.7 | ||
| More than twice | 2.7 | 5.0 | ||
| Concomitant diseases (%): | 39.4 | 71.0 | ||
| Obesity | 8.0 | 21.5 | ||
| Type 1 diabetes | 0.8 | 2.0 | ||
| Type 2 diabetes | 2.3 | 19.2 | ||
| Hypertension | 9.5 | 60.4 | ||
| Dyslipidaemia | 3.2 | 31.2 | ||
| Coronary heart disease | 2.2 | 21.4 | ||
| Other allergic diseases | 20.7 | 3.0 | ||
| Other chronic diseases | 4.3 | 9.2 | ||