Clinical characteristics of controls and subgroups of COPD patients with moderate and high HA levels
| Healthy smokers(n = 14) | COPD with moderate HA(n = 12) | COPD with high HA(n = 6) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Values are expressed as median (range) or as absolute numbers. | |||
| COPD, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; ex-smoker, quitting smoking for at least 1 year before the start of the study; FEV1, forced expiratory volume in 1 second; HA, hyaluronan; pack-year, smoking one pack per day for 1 year. | |||
| The Kruskal-Wallis H test was used to test for differences between groups and, if appropriate (p<0.05), subsequent analysis of subgroups was performed using the Mann-Whitney U test or Fisher’s exact test. | |||
| *p<0.05, **p<0.005 v healthy smokers. | |||
| †p<0.005 v COPD patients with moderate HA levels. | |||
| Age (years) | 55 (42–66) | 60 (41–70) | 65 (50–74) |
| Sex (M/F) | 6/8 | 11/1* | 5/1 |
| FEV1 (% predicted) | 93 (79–121) | 64 (28–76)** | 37 (20–68)** |
| Smoking behaviour | |||
| Pack-years | 30 (15–63) | 37 (21–122) | 44 (32–97) |
| Current/ex-smoker | 8/6 | 11/1 | 1/5† |