Comparison of clinical characteristics and different clusters’ PEF measurements
| Cluster 1 (n=12) | Cluster 2 (n=20) | Cluster 3 (n=12) | Unclustered (n=61) | p-value | |
| Subjects n | 12 | 20 | 12 | 61 | |
| Male sex | 8 (67) | 11 (55) | 8 (67) | 43 (70) | 0.86 |
| Age years | 13.8 (8–17) | 12.2 (5–16) | 11.8 (7–16) | 12.4 (6–17) | 0.49 |
| BMI | 20 (15–30) | 20 (15–32) | 19.5 (14–27) | 20 (14–39) | 0.73 |
| BMI centile | 67.5 (9–99) | 68 (19–97) | 65 (6–98) | 72 (0–100) | 0.71 |
| Ethnicity: white/other % | 67/33 | 60/40 | 67/33 | 48/52 | 0.46 |
| Comorbidity | 5 (42) | 2 (10) | 2 (17) | 10 (16) | 0.14 |
| Median age of symptom onset months | 15.5 (1–84) | 18.0 (1–132) | 9.5 (1–72) | 12 (1–120) | 0.53 |
| Hospitalisations n | 0 (0–3) | 0 (0–5) | 0 (0–5) | 0 (0–15) | 0.97 |
| Atopic subjects | 10 (83) | 15 (75) | 11 (92) | 56 (92) | 0.23 |
| LTRA | 5 (42) | 12 (60) | 5 (42) | 39 (64) | 0.32 |
| Maintenance OCS | 2 (17) | 1 (5) | 1 (8) | 4 (7) | 0.64 |
| Omalizumab | 0 | 0 | 1 (8) | 3 (5) | 0.57 |
| FEV1 % pred (BL) | 71.1± 18.42 | 94.1± 17.88 | 92.3± 11.68 | 85.2±18.56 | 0.0057# |
| FEV1 % pred (FU) | 83.9±15.31 | 97.3±17.61 | 102.3±10.23 | 89.9±15.21 | 0.0085¶ |
Data are presented as n (%), median (range) or mean±sd, unless otherwise stated. BL: baseline; FU: follow-up; BMI: body mass index; LTRA: leukotriene receptor antagonists; ICS: inhaled corticosteroids; OCS: oral corticosteroids; FVC: forced vital capacity; FEV1: forced expiratory volume in 1 s. #: Bonferroni post-test (Holm–Sidak's multiple comparisons test): significant difference between cluster 1 versus 3, cluster 1 versus 2, cluster 1 versus unclustered; ¶: Bonferroni post-test (Holm–Sidak's multiple comparisons test) FU: only cluster 1 versus 3. Comorbidities were migraine, focal epilepsy and delayed puberty. Bold text indicates statistical significance (p<0.05).