Demographic and clinical characteristics of patients by blood eosinophil count recorded closest to initiation of the highest level of maintenance therapy
| Variable | <50 cells/µL (n=414) | 50–349 cells/µL (n=9372) | ≥350 cells/µL (n=2392) | P value | SMD <50* | SMD ≥350† |
| Follow-up after index date, years | ||||||
| Median (IQR) | 6.1 (4.5–8.1) | 6.0 (4.4–8.2) | 5.9 (4.3–8.3) | 0.8805 | 0.1 | 0.4 |
| Age (years) at index date | ||||||
| Mean (SD) | 66.3 (10.5) | 65.8 (9.9) | 66.0 (9.7) | 0.4996 | 4.6 | 1.9 |
| Male sex, n (%) | 187 (45.2) | 4646 (49.6) | 1487 (62.2) | <0.0001 | 8.8 | 25.6 |
| BMI, n (%) | ||||||
| Underweight | 28 (6.8) | 263 (2.8) | 61 (2.6) | <0.0001 | 25.9 | 0.7 |
| Normal weight | 166 (40.1) | 2987 (31.9) | 735 (30.7) | |||
| Overweight | 125 (30.2) | 3365 (35.9) | 918 (38.4) | |||
| Obese | 95 (22.9) | 2757 (29.4) | 678 (28.3) | |||
| Baseline smoking status, closest within 5 years, n (%) | n=379 | n=8787 | n=2257 | |||
| Ex-smoker | 189 (49.9) | 4569 (52.0) | 1198 (53.1) | 0.4374 | 4.3 | 2.2 |
| Smoking status up to 5 years of follow-up after index date, n (%) | n=392 | n=8813 | n=2230 | |||
| Sustained quitter | 132 (33.7) | 3190 (36.2) | 839 (37.6) | 0.2453 | 7.7 | 3.6 |
| Intermittent quitter | 133 (33.9) | 3096 (35.1) | 784 (35.2) | |||
| Continuous smoker | 127 (32.4) | 2527 (28.7) | 607 (27.2) | |||
| Nasal polyps diagnosis ever, n (%) | 3 (0.7) | 73 (0.8) | 62 (2.6) | <0.0001 | 0.6 | 14.1 |
| Osteoporosis diagnosis ever, n (%) | 30 (7.2) | 429 (4.6) | 100 (4.2) | 0.0225 | 11.3 | 1.9 |
| Charlson Comorbidity Index, n (%) | ||||||
| 0–1 | 163 (39.4) | 4108 (43.8) | 961 (40.2) | 0.0170 | 6.8 | 5.0 |
| 2–4 | 96 (23.2) | 1879 (20.0) | 529 (22.1) | |||
| 5–9 | 51 (12.3) | 1260 (13.4) | 341 (14.3) | |||
| ≥10 | 104 (25.1) | 2125 (22.7) | 561 (23.5) | |||
| mMRC score, n (%) | n=396 | n=9015 | n=2294 | |||
| 0–1 | 254 (64.1) | 6165 (68.4) | 1586 (69.1) | 0.0080 | 14.4 | 3.0 |
| ≥2 | 142 (35.9) | 2850 (31.6) | 708 (30.9) | |||
| GOLD groups (2017), n (%) | n=396 | n=9015 | n=2294 | |||
| A | 201 (50.8) | 5047 (56.0) | 1252 (54.6) | 0.0060 | 8.7 | 6.3 |
| B | 114 (28.8) | 2296 (25.5) | 540 (23.5) | |||
| C | 53 (13.4) | 1118 (12.4) | 334 (14.6) | |||
| D | 28 (7.1) | 554 (6.1) | 168 (7.3) | |||
| FEV1 at index date | ||||||
| Mean (SD) absolute value (mL) | 1651.1 (493.9) | 1695.3 (491.4) | 1781.9 (499.2) | <0.0001 | 9.0 | 17.5 |
| Mean (SD) % predicted | 67.0 (10.1) | 66.4 (9.9) | 66.6 (9.8) | 0.2266 | 6.6 | 2.7 |
| COPD exacerbations in year prior to highest therapy initiation, n (%) | ||||||
| 0 | 263 (63.5) | 5714 (61.0) | 1352 (56.5) | 0.0001 | 0.8 | 11.6 |
| 1 | 83 (20.0) | 2094 (22.3) | 545 (22.8) | |||
| 2 | 36 (8.7) | 921 (9.8) | 269 (11.2) | |||
| 3 | 16 (3.9) | 391 (4.2) | 135 (5.6) | |||
| ≥4 | 16 (3.9) | 252 (2.7) | 91 (3.8) | |||
| Mean (SD) | 0.7 (1.4) | 0.7 (1.1) | 0.8 (1.2) | 0.0030 | 2.2 | 11.1 |
| Cumulative daily dose of oral steroids in year prior to index date (mg /day), n (%) | n=100 | n=2133 | n=641 | |||
| No OCS | 5 (5.0) | 205 (9.6) | 64 (10.0) | <0.0001 | 41.8 | 0.8 |
| <2.5 | 72 (72.0) | 1719 (80.6) | 509 (79.4) | |||
| 2.5-<5 | 8 (8.0) | 132 (6.2) | 43 (6.7) | |||
| 5–7.5 | 8 (8.0) | 33 (1.5) | 13 (2.0) | |||
| ≥7.5 | 7 (7.0) | 44 (2.1) | 12 (1.9) | |||
| GP consultations, all-cause, number in year prior to index date, n (%) | ||||||
| 0–1 | 0 (0.0) | 49 (0.5) | 16 (0.7) | 0.0189 | 21.0 | 0.9 |
| 2–4 | 25 (6.0) | 679 (7.2) | 177 (7.4) | |||
| 5–8 | 63 (15.2) | 1950 (20.8) | 486 (20.3) | |||
| 9–13 | 110 (26.6) | 2515 (26.8) | 657 (27.5) | |||
| 14–17 | 59 (14.3) | 1505 (16.1) | 379 (15.8) | |||
| 18–22 | 66 (15.9) | 1184 (12.6) | 306 (12.8) | |||
| 23+ | 91 (22.0) | 1490 (15.9) | 371 (15.5) |
*As compared with the 50–349 cells/µL category.
†As compared with the 50–349 cells/µL category.
BMI, body mass index; GP, general practitioner; mMRC, modified Medical Research Council; P, p value for the Kruskal-Wallis equality-of-populations rank test, or the Pearson's chi-square test of independent categories, where appropriate; SMD, standardised mean difference.