Table 1 Patient characteristics and demographics by ICS daily dose group

Age (years)

42 (33–50)

33 (28–39)

40 (32–51)

47 (37–50)

42 (33–50)

0.005

% male

44

44

51

44

40

0.295*

Smoking

% current or past smokers

44

37

44

47

43

0.775*

Pack years^a

0 (0–3)

0 (0–2)

0 (0–4)

0 (0–4)

0 (0–2)

0.782

Asthma severity

Asthma control questionnaire (ACQ) score (0–6)

0.8 (0.3–1.5)

1.2 (0.5–1.7)

0.5 (0.2–1.3)

0.7 (0.3–1.2)

0.8 (0.3–1.7)

0.075

No. emergency GP appointments for asthma in last year % none/% ≥1

80/20

85/15

87/13

84/16

73/27

0.034

Educational level achieved

% Primary and lower vocational

34

26

31

34

37

% Secondary/intermediate vocational

38

33

33

47

37

% Higher vocational/university

28

41

36

19

26

0.070

Use of asthma medication

No. of daily puffs SABA % none/% 1–2/% ≥3

69/24/7

22/59/19

79/20/1

84/10/6

68/25/7

0.049^¶

Daily equivalent dose^† of LABA^c %0 μg/%1–200 μg

39/61

89/11

53/47

33/67

20/80

≤0.001

No. of courses of Prednisolone in last 3 years^c % none/%1–2/%≥3

57/27/16

74/19/7

64/27/9

58/27/15

49/29/22

0.002^¶

% currently using nasal steroids

25

7

28

31

25

0.296*

% currently using dermal or ocular steroids

6

7

10

2

5

0.291*^¶

No. of other concomitantly prescribed medications % none/%1–2/%≥3

37/42/21

52/30/18

39/48/13

34/48/18

34/39/27

0.048

Perceived side effect in last 14-days:

ICQ total score

11 (4–22)

5 (0.8–11)

7 (3–14)

10 (3–21)

15 (9–30)

≤0.001

Personality:

Negative affectivity score (PANAS)

17 (14–22)

14 (13–20)

15 (13–21)

17 (14–21)

17 (15–24)

0.09

Neuroticism score (EPQ-RSS) score (0–12)^d

4 (2–7)

4 (1–7)

3 (1–6)

4 (2–6)

4 (1–7)

0.727*

Inhaler behavior

% rinsing mouth after inhalation^e

75

82

77

0.928*

% using spacer device

2

7

15

0.003

% use of ICS 7 days per week (adherent)^b

82

90

99

≤0.001