Major longitudinal clinical features at baseline and exacerbations of all samples
| Longitudinal features | All samples (n=716) | Visits | P value* | |
| Baseline (n=446) | Exacerbations (n=270) | |||
| FEV1† | 1.4 (0.5) | 1.5 (0.5) | 1.2 (0.5) | <0.001 |
| FVC | 2.8 (0.9) | 3.0 (0.8) | 2.5 (0.9) | <0.001 |
| FEV1/FVC ratio | 0.5 (0.2) | 0.5 (0.2) | 0.5 (0.2) | 0.26 |
| CAT score | 21.1 (7.4) | 19.6 (7.1) | 24.2 (7.0) | <0.001 |
| C reactive protein‡ | 5.0 (11.0) | 3.0 (5.0) | 10.0 (27.0) | <0.001§ |
| Blood neutrophil count (×109 cells/L) | 5.5 (2.3) | 4.9 (1.7) | 6.2 (2.7) | <0.001 |
| Blood lymphocyte count (×109 cells/L) | 1.8 (0.7) | 1.8 (0.6) | 1.8 (0.7) | 0.49 |
| Blood monocyte count (×109 cells/L) | 0.7 (0.3) | 0.6 (0.2) | 0.7 (0.3) | <0.001 |
| Blood eosinophil count (×109 cells/L)‡ | 0.2 (0.2) | 0.2 (0.2) | 0.2 (0.2) | 0.18§ |
| Blood basophil count (×109 cells/L) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.1 (0.0) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.01 |
| Sputum neutrophil count % ‡ | 78.8 (33.8) | 75.1 (34.0) | 84.2 (28.5) | <0.001§ |
| Sputum lymphocyte count %‡ | 0.0 (0.5) | 0.0 (0.3) | 0.2 (1.0) | 0.028§ |
| Sputum eosinophil count %‡ | 0.8 (2.0) | 0.8 (2.2) | 0.5 (2.0) | 0.07§ |
| Sputum macrophage count %‡ | 13.0 (21.2) | 14.5 (23.2) | 8.5 (19.0) | <0.001§ |
| Sputum epithelial count %‡ | 3.2 (8.0) | 4.0 (9.8) | 2.0 (4.8) | <0.001§ |
*P value was calculated for baseline and exacerbations comparison using t-test unless stated below.
†Data present as mean (SD) unless stated below.
‡Median (IQR).
↵§Mann-Whitney-Wilcoxon Test.
FEV1, forced expiratory volume in one second; FVC, forced vital capacity.