Research Article

Body Mass and Fat Mass in Refractory Asthma: An Observational 1 Year Follow-Up Study

Table 1

Patient demographics.

WomenCharacteristics in women stratified into FMI tertilesMenCharacteristics in men stratified into FMI tertiles
Value Value

Number, 8227282769232323
Age*46 (19–79)45 (20–74)48 (23–79)48 (19–67)0.6052 (18–80)55 (23–78)52 (23–80)50 (18–78)0.42
Age of onset of asthma*20 (2–73)20 (1–58)21 (1–73)21 (1–46)0.9928 (2–79)24 (1–58)31 (1–79)30 (1–75)0.53
Disease duration yrs26 (2)24 (3)27 (3)27 (3)0.7124 (2)31 (4)20 (4)20 (3)0.06
Never smokers %858289850.71847896780.18
Pack year history4 (1)6 (3)3 (1)3 (1)0.396 (2)6 (2)3 (2)9 (6)0.39
Positive atopy status %687661690.07666577550.07
Exacerbation rate in previous yr4.3 (0.4)4.5 (0.6)4.0 (0.6)4.4 (0.8)0.873.5 (0.4)3.5 (0.7)3.6 (0.7)3.3 (0.7)0.96
Maintenance prednisolone %515254480.69485239520.10
Prednisolone dose mg*11 (5–40)14 (5–40)9 (5–15)12 (5–23)0.2011 (5–20)11 (5–20)13 (5–20)11 (5–20)0.46
Inhaled corticosteroid %1001001001001.001001001001001.00
Inhaled corticosteroid dose μg 1490 (89)1427 (150)1393 (117)1652 (189)0.441547 (86)1530 (158)1539 (130)1648 (84)0.83
Long-acting beta agonist %908393920.62939191960.90
Total IgE (kU/L)504 (118)835 (286)309 (134)374 (190)0.14644 (132)638 (293)770 (198)523 (189)0.75
FEV1 % predicted#81 (2)88 (4)76 (4)79 (4)0.0873 (3)73 (4)69 (5)76 (5)0.60
FEV1 / FVC# (%)74 (1)77 (2)72 (2)74 (2)0.1867 (2)65 (3)65 (3)71 (2)0.23
FENO (ppb)32 (24–42)32 (21–51)30 (15–58)33 (20–53)0.9934 (26–43)26 (16–41)37 (21–65)41 (28–59)0.39
Sputum eosinophil count (%)5 (3–7)3 (1–9)6 (3–14)6 (3–11)0.315 (3–7)5 (3–9)5 (2–11)5 (2–10)0.72
Sputum neutrophil count (%)55 (3)51 (6)60 (5)55 (5)0.4859 (3)58 (6)59 (5)62 (5)0.88
JACQ score2.4 (0.1)2.4 (0.3)2.5 (0.2)2.4 (0.3)0.922.2 (0.2)1.5 (0.2)2.3 (0.3)2.7 (0.2)<0.001
JACQ score(independent of )2.3 (0.2)2.4 (0.3)2.4 (0.2)2.3 (0.3)0.972.0 (0.2)1.2 (0.2)2.0 (0.3)2.7 (0.2)0.01
BMI (kg/m2)30.0 (0.7)23.2 (0.5)30.1 (0.6)36.7 (1.0)<0.00129 (1)23.7 (0.6)27.4 (0.6)36.0 (1.1)<0.001
FMI (kg/m2)13.3 (0.6)7.9 (0.4)13.5 (0.4)18.6 (0.7)<0.00110 (0.5)6.1 (0.3)8.9 (0.3)14.2 (0.6)<0.001

Data presented as mean (SEM) unless otherwise stated. *Mean [range]; BDP equivalent. FEV1: forced expiratory volume in 1 second, FVC: forced vital capacity, FENO: fraction of exhaled nitric oxide, JACQ: Juniper asthma control questionnaire score, BMI: body mass index, FMI: fat mass index. Data presented as mean (SEM) unless otherwise stated; #postbronchodilator; geometric mean (95% CI).