Table 4 Demographic, clinical, and inflammatory characteristics of patients with severe/non-severe asthma

N

49

207

–

Age (years)

54 ± 10

47 ± 13

< 0.001

Sex (F, %)

28 (57.1%)

112 (54.1%)

NS

BMI (kg/m²)

23.9 ± 3.8

24 ± 3.3

NS

Smokers (N, %)

19 (38.8%)

85 (41.1%)

NS

NA (N, %)

6 (14%)

4 (2.1%)

< 0.001

EA (N, %)

16 (37.2%)

73 (38.6%)

0.512

PGA (N, %)

20 (46.5%)

101 (53.4%)

< 0.001

MGA (N, %)

1 (2.3%)

11 (5.8%)

0.006

Asthma diagnosis > 1 year (N, %)

41 (83.7%)

108 (56.5%)

< 0.001

Asthma specialist treatment > 3 m (N, %)

42 (85.7%)

93 (48.9%)

< 0.001

Allergic conjunctivitis (N, %)

4 (8.3%)

21 (11.1%)

0.049

ICS dose (μg)

500 (400, 500)

0 (0, 250)

< 0.001

ICS + LABA (N, %)

38 (77.6%)

58 (28%)

< 0.001

Exacerbation (N, %)

37 (75.5%)

66 (34.6%)

< 0.001

Pre-FEV1/FVC%

54.2 ± 12.3

63 ± 13.3

< 0.001

FEV1% predicted

55.6 ± 20.6

68.9 ± 26

0.002

Post- FEV1/FVC%

57.6 ± 12.3

66.6 ± 13.6

< 0.001

Global AQLQ

4.5 ± 1.5

5.2 ± 1.1

0.020

ACT scores

15.4 ± 4.2

17.6 ± 4.6

0.005

 ≤ 15

21 (45.7%)

67 (36.2%)

0.012

 16–20

18 (39.1%)

50 (27%)

0.012

 21–25

7 (15.2%)

68 (36.8%)

0.012

HAD

3 (0, 11)

3 (0, 9)

NS

Blood eosinophils (10⁹/L)

0.2 (0.1, 0.5)

0.24 (0.3, 0.6)

NS

Blood neutrophils (10⁹/L)

3.5 (3, 5.4)

4.3 (3.4, 5.5)

NS

Blood lymphocytes (10⁹/L)

2.2 (1.8, 2.8)

2.1 (1.8, 2.6)

NS

Blood basophils, (10⁹/L)

0 (0, 0.04)

0 (0, 0.1)

0.044

Sputum TCC (10⁶/mL)

2.9 (1.8, 5.4)

3.2 (1.8, 5.7)

NS

Sputum macrophages (%)

82.6 (49.1, 93)

85.1 (57.5, 95.6)

NS

Sputum neutrophils (%)

2.2 (0, 16.3)

1 (0, 6.7)

NS

Sputum eosinophils (%)

2.9 (0.5, 9.9)

2.2 (0.2, 7.5)

NS

Sputum lymphocytes (%)

1.4 (0, 6.5)

1.7 (0.5, 4.5)

NS