Primary and secondary outcomes according to treatment group
| Variable | Internet group (n=51) | Conventional management group (n=38) | Absolute difference* (95% CI) | p Value |
| Sparing of prednisone in 6 months (mg) (median, 25–75th percentile)† | 205 (−221 to 777) | 0 (−497.5 to 282) | 205 (45 to 365) | 0.02 |
| Mean (SE) ACQ change from baseline‡ § | 0.26 (0.09) | 0.12 (0.12) | 0.14 (−0.14 to 0.42) | 0.37 |
| Mean (SE) AQLQ change from baseline‡ ¶ | −0.03 (0.10) | 0.14 (0.13) | 0.17 (−0.14 to 0.48) | 0.30 |
| Slope FEV1 (1)‡ | −0.0009 | −0.0007 | 0.0002 (−0.0012 to 0.0018) | 0.73 |
| Exacerbations per patient (median, 25–75th percentile) | 1 (0 to 1) | 1 (0 to 1) | 0 | 0.78 |
| Exacerbations per year (median, 25–75th percentile)** | 1.68 (0 to 3.9) | 1.82 (0 to 2.5) | −0.14 | 0.95 |
| Days of hospitalisation per patient (median, 25–75th percentile) | 0 (0 to 17) | 0 (0 to 7) | 0 | 0.25 |
| Days of hospitalisations per patient/year (median, 25–75th percentile)†† | 0 (0 to 37) | 0 (0 to 18) | 0 | 0.25 |
| Mean (SE) global satisfaction scale‡‡ | 5.58 (0.2) | 6.08 (0.18) | 0.5 (−0.07 to 1.06) | 0.09 |
↵* Absolute difference is the difference in medians or means between the groups.
↵† Sparing of prednisone is the difference between the expected cumulative dose (daily dose at study entry multiplied by the number of days in the study) and the actual cumulative dose. For the calculation of the actual cumulative dose we used the dose registered daily on the website by each patient.
↵‡ Values are model estimates of mixed effects regression models.
↵§ The Juniper Asthma Control Questionnaire (ACQ) score ranges from 0 to 7, with higher scores indicating worse control.
↵¶ The Juniper Quality of Life Questionnaire (AQLQ) score ranges from 1 to 7, with higher scores indicating better quality of life.
↵** Incidence of exacerbations/year (number of exacerbations per patient divided by the number of days in the study and multiplied by 365).
↵†† Incidence of days of hospitalisations/patient/year (number of days of hospitalisation per patient divided by the number of days in the study multiplied by 365).
↵‡‡ Patients' rate for their satisfaction with the tapering strategy from 1 (absolutely not satisfied) to 7 (really satisfied).