Blood testing and bone density
| All (382) | Belfast (95) | Brompton (99) | Leicester (79) | Manchester (′109) | ||
| Blood eosinophil count ×109/l (n) | 0.30 | 0.34 | 0.1 | 0.12 | 0.24 | p=0.001 |
| (0.25–11.0) | (0.19–0.72) | (0.2–0.5) | (0.35–0.58) | (0.08–0.54) | ||
| (360) | (94) | (98) | (72) | (96) | ||
| Percentage sputum eosinophil count (n) | 3.0 | 6.0 | 3.45 | 1.0 | p=0.159 | |
| (0.25–11.25) | (3–9) | (0.07–17.12) | (0–11.0) | |||
| (123) | (31) | (56) | (36) | |||
| FeNO ppb (n) | 34.5 | 40 | 30.5 | 34 | p=0.321 | |
| (16–65) | (17–92) | (14–65) | (12–60) | |||
| (133) | (57) | (24) | (52) | |||
| IgE kU/l (n) | 130 | 113 | 166.5 | 126 | 140 | p=0.831 |
| (53.5–292) | (60–256) | (51.5–299.5) | (50–335.5) | (51–280) | ||
| (349) | (93) | (96) | (77) | (83) | ||
| IgG g/l (n) | 9.3 | 9.15 | 9.1 | 9.85 | p=0.052 | |
| (7.85–10.9) | (7.9–10.0) | (7.0–10.0) | (8.1–11.77) | |||
| (195) | (86) | (63) | (46) | |||
| IgA g/l (n) | 1.9 | 1.9 | 2.1 | 1.8 | p=0.275 | |
| (1.5–2.7) | (1.48–2.72) | (1.7–2.7) | (1.21–2.58) | |||
| (195) | (86) | (63) | (46) | |||
| IgM g/l (n) | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.1 | 1.1 | p=0.588 | |
| (0.8–1.4) | (0.7–1.4) | (0.88–1.4) | (0.72–1.42) | |||
| (195) | (86) | (63) | (46) | |||
| Bone density (T scores) *(n) | (169) | (41) | (70) | (58) | ||
| L1–L4 | −0.64±1.42 | −0.81±1.15 | −0.54±1.34 | −0.67±1.67 | p=0.603 | |
| Femoral neck | −0.26±1.20 | −0.22±0.84 | −0.07±1.28 | −0.61±1.19 | p=0.017 |
↵* 18 (10.6%) subjects had either a spinal or femoral neck bone density less than or equal to −2.5 (osteoporosis) and 58 (34.3%) subjects had a spinal or femoral neck bone density less than or equal to −1.0 (osteopenia).
Group data (mean±SD or median (range)) for all subjects are presented in column 2 followed by data for individual centres. Between-centre comparisons for continuous variables were made using one-way aanalysis of variance or Kruksal–Wallis test (for posthoc comparisons, see text) and for categorical variables using χ2 analysis.
Significance was taken as p<0.01.
FeNO, fractional exhaled nitric oxide; Ig, immunoglobulin.