Table 1.
Baseline characteristics
| Characteristics | Sanfu herbal patch (n = ) | Placebo (n = ) |
|---|---|---|
| Age, years | ||
| Gender | ||
| Male | ||
| Female | ||
| Race (%) | ||
| Han | ||
| Minorities | ||
| Educational level (%) | ||
| Primary education or less | ||
| Secondary education | ||
| Tertiary education | ||
| Marital status | ||
| Married | ||
| Unmarried | ||
| BMI, kg/m2 | ||
| Employment status | ||
| On duty | ||
| Laid off | ||
| Retired | ||
| Smoking | ||
| Yes | ||
| No | ||
| Drinking | ||
| Yes | ||
| No | ||
| FEV1(L) | ||
| AQLQ | ||
| ACT | ||
| IL-5 (pg/ml) | ||
| IL-13 (pg/ml) | ||
| IL-23 (pg/ml) | ||
| IL-25 (pg/ml) | ||
| TSLP (pg/ml) | ||
| Metallothionein-2 (ng/ml) | ||
| Transgelin-2 (ng/ml) | ||
| ALFS |
FEV1 forced expiratory volume in the first second, AQLQ Asthma Quality of Life Questionnaire, ACT Asthma Control Test, IL-5 interleukin 5, IL-13 interleukin 13, IL-23 interleukin 23, IL-25 interleukin 25, TSLP thymic stromal lymphopoietin, ALFS Asthma Long-term Follow-up Scale
For continuous variables, we will use the mean ± standard deviation to describe data in a normal distribution; the median and interquartile range (IQR) are more applicable when the data show a skewed distribution. Percentages will be used to present data for categorical variables