Clinical characteristics of obese, fixed airway obstruction, exacerbation-prone phenotype and comorbidities among severe asthma patients: a single-center study

Table 6 Comparison of characteristics between patients with and without FAO

	FAO (n = 88)	Non-FAO (n = 101)	P Value
Age (years)	56.0 (47.0–63.0)	48.0 (32.5–59.0)	< 0.001
Sex, female	43 (48.9%)	48 (47.5%)	0.854
Age of diagnosis (years)	41.5 (24.3–49.8)	36.0 (20.0–51.0)	0.846
Duration of asthma	11.0 (5.0-23.5)	5.0 (2.0-12.5)	< 0.001
Pre-bronchodilator FEV₁% pred (n = 185)	51.2 ± 15.2	84.1 ± 17.8	< 0.001
Pre-bronchodilator FEV₁/FVC (%) (n = 187)	54.9 ± 8.6	74.8 ± 10.5	< 0.001
Post-bronchodilator FEV₁% pred (n = 184)	57.9 ± 16.4	91.2 ± 15.2	< 0.001
Post-bronchodilator FEV₁/FVC (%) (n = 189)	61.3 (55.3–64.9)	79.1 (73.2–84.5)	< 0.001
FENO, ppb (n = 135)	39.5 (22.0-78.5)	41.0 (27.0–82.0)	0.440
Blood neutrophil (%) (n = 131)	59.3 (51.7–65.6)	56.5 (50.3–62.8)	0.319
Blood neutrophil(/ul) (n = 130)	4100.0 (3150.0-5700.0)	3900.0 (3300.0-4800.0)	0.474
Blood eosinophil (%) (n = 143)	3.7 (1.5-8.0)	4.2 (2.0-8.7)	0.440
Blood eosinophil (/ul) (n = 141)	230.0 (100.0-585.0)	300.0 (140.0-595.0)	0.230
Total IgE, IU/ml (n = 153)	183.5 (75.5-396.8)	272.0 (129.5-521.5)	0.082
ACT score (n = 161)	19.5 ± 3.6	20.0 ± 3.7	0.321
AQLQ score (n = 105)	4.5 ± 1.3	4.6 ± 1.4	0.742
GINA step 5	58 (65.9%)	32 (31.7%)	< 0.001
Number of exacerbations	1 (0–2)	0 (0–2)	0.004
Corticosteroids treatment for at least 3 days	42 (47.7%)	29 (28.7%)	0.007
Emergency department visit or Hospitalization	20 (22.7%)	13 (12.9%)	0.075
Number of comorbidities (n = 157)			0.733
0	7 (9.5%)	11 (13.3%)
1	26 (35.1%)	31 (37.3%)
2	24 (32.4%)	27 (32.5%)
≥ 3	17 (23.0%)	14 (16.9%)

Values are presented as number (%) and mean ± SD or median with interquartile range
Abbreviations: FAO, fixed airway obstruction; FEV₁, forced expiratory volume in 1 s; FVC, forced vital capacity; FENO, fractional exhaled nitric oxide; IgE, immunoglobulin E; ACT, asthma control test; AQLQ, asthma quality of life questionnaire

ISSN: 1471-2466