Clinical characteristics before treatment with Bx in each control group
| Clinical characteristics | Well-controlled patients | Moderately controlled patients | Poorly controlled patients | p-value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Patient number, n (%) | 23 (43.4%) | 22 (41.5%) | 8 (15.1%) | |
| Demographic variables | ||||
| Age, years | 56.0 (48.0–71.0) | 62.0 (48.3–70.5) | 64.5 (53.8–71.8) | 0.6414 |
| Female, n (%) | 19 (82.6%) | 14 (63.6%) | 5 (62.5%) | 0.2721 |
| BMI, kg/m2 | 22.8 (20.3–25.8) | 25.6 (20.4–27.2) | 26.1 (20.7–30.1) | 0.3972 |
| Age at asthma onset, years | 48.0 (30.0–52.0) | 36.0 (15.0–54.3) | 42.0 (22.5–63.5) | 0.6766 |
| Duration of disease, years | 15.3 (5.5–25.3) | 21.4 (12.5–35.5) | 18.1 (3.8–32.3) | 0.2565 |
| Smoking status | 0.3324 | |||
| Never smokers, n (%) | 18 (78.3%) | 13 (59.1%) | 5 (62.5%) | |
| Previous smokers, n (%) | 5 (21.7%) | 8 (36.4%) | 2 (25.0%) | |
| Current smokers, n (%) | 0 (0.0%) | 1 (4.5%) | 1 (12.5%) | |
| Indoor pet keeping, n (%) | 5 (21.7%) | 3 (13.6%) | 3 (37.5%) | 0.3912 |
| History of comorbidities | ||||
| Allergic rhinitis, n (%) | 14 (60.9%) | 10 (45.5%) | 4 (50.0%) | 0.5711 |
| Chronic rhinosinusitis, n (%) | 9 (39.1%) | 11 (50.0%) | 3 (37.5%) | 0.7499 |
| Eosinophilic chronic rhinosinusitis, n (%) | 3 (13.0%) | 7 (31.8%) | 1 (12.5%) | 0.2511 |
| Atopic dermatitis, n (%) | 0 (0.0%) | 0 (0.0%) | 1 (12.5%) | 0.1509 |
| COPD, n (%) | 0 (0.0%) | 2 (9.1%) | 2 (25.0%) | 0.0309 |
| Exacerbation | ||||
| Exacerbations in 12 months before Bx initiation (/year) | 3.0 (2.0–5.0) | 4.0 (1.8–6.0) | 4.0 (0.5–9.0) | 0.9263 |
| Medication use in the year preceding Bx initiation | ||||
| mOCS, prednisolone equivalent dose, mg | 0.0 (0.0–0.0) | 0.0 (0.0–0.0) | 7.0 (1.3–10.0)***††† | 0.0002 |
| Pre-Bx lung function | ||||
| FEV1, %predicted | 93.1 (77.9–109.1) | 80.6 (59.5–87.1)‡ | 46.4 (29.7–91.1)* | 0.0085 |
| FVC, %predicted | 102.4 (94.8–111.8) | 91.9 (90.0–99.6) | 80.6 (64.8–102.2) | 0.0186 |
| FEV1/FVC | 73.3 (62.9–80.8) | 68.1 (59.9–72.5) | 47.1 (35.7–72.8) | 0.0583 |
| Type 2 inflammation markers | ||||
| Pre-Bx highest BEC, cells/μL | 650 (230–1,300) | 483 (253–785) | 1,048 (158–1,503) | 0.5080 |
| Pre-Bx highest FeNO, ppb | 49.5 (31.3–92.3) | 57.5 (34.5–96.0) | 23.5 (11.8–77.3) | 0.3231 |
| Pre-Bx latest serum IgE, IU/mL | 279.0 (76.4–541.0) | 317.0 (134.0–870.5) | 56.8 (20.4–3,096) | 0.4696 |
Data are presented as median (interquartile range) for continuous variables, or n (%) for categorical variables. Statistics: p < 0.05 is considered statistically significant and highlighted in bold font. ***p < 0.001, *p < 0.05 compared with well-controlled patients, †††p < 0.001 compared with moderately controlled patients, ‡p < 0.05 compared with well-controlled patients. BMI: body mass index; COPD: chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; Bx: biologics; mOCS: maintenance oral corticosteroid; BEC: blood eosinophil count; FeNO: fractional exhaled nitric oxide; FEV1 %predicted: percent predicted forced expiratory volume in 1 second; FEV1: forced expiratory volume in 1 second; FVC: forced vital capacity; IgE: immunoglobulin E