Long-Term Effects of Allergen Sensitization and Exposure in Adult Asthma: A Prospective Study

Table 1 Characteristics of Subgroups Included in the Analysis*

	Attended Both Visits		Allergen Samples Collected		Bronchial Challenge at Both Visits
	Yes	No	Yes	No	Yes	No
	N = 200	N = 199	N = 165	N = 35	N = 86	N = 79
Age (years)	44	35†	45	41	41	50†
		(n = 195)
Sex (% males)	40%	44%	39%	43%	31%	48%†
Years with asthma	23	17†	23	23	20	25†
	(n = 179)	(n = 132)	(n = 150)	(n = 31)	(n = 72)	(n = 78)
% on ICS treatment	72%	58%†	73%	66%	60%	86%†
	(n = 199)			(n = 34)
ICS dose (μg)	967	1034	948	1064	830	1042
	(n = 137)	(n = 101)	(n = 115)	(n = 22)	(n = 51)	(n = 64)
Smoking status (%)
Never	61%	61%	59%	71%	65%	52%
Ex	28%	23%	30%	17%	27%	33%
Current	12%	16%	12%	11%	8%	15%
Spirometry
FEV₁ (l)	2.50	3.05†	2.51	2.49	2.87	2.11†
	(n = 197)	(n = 199)	(n = 164)	(n = 33)		(n = 78)
FVC (l)	3.48	3.80†	3.48	3.46	3.73	3.27†
	(n = 166)	(n = 110)	(n = 137)	(n = 29)	(n = 63)	(n = 74)
Reversibility (%)	14%	13%	14%	14%	8%	18%†
	(n = 124)	(n = 73)	(n = 106)	(n = 18)	(n = 40)	(n = 66)
PD₂₀ GM (μg)	0.412	0.538	0.422	0.398	0.394	0.590
	(n = 118)	(n = 146)	(n = 103)	(n = 15)		(n = 17)
eNO GM (ppb)	11.09	9.76	11.04	11.41	10.77	11.35
	(n = 173)	(n = 160)	(n = 149)	(n = 24)	(n = 80)	(n = 69)
Atopy (%)	84%	83%	82%	94%	85%	80%
	(n = 195)	(n = 195)	(n = 164)	(n = 31)	(n = 85)	(n = 79)

*Where data not available for all subjects in group, the number included in the analysis is shown in parentheses.
†P < 0.05 "no" vs "yes".
ICS, inhaled corticosteroids.

ISSN: 1939-4551