Clinical characteristics of the study subjects
| No asthma (n=180) | Asthma normal spirometry (n=126) | Asthma obstructed spirometry (n=51) | |
| Age years | 39±12#,¶ | 44±11 | 45±13 |
| Female % | 88# | 87+ | 67 |
| Anthropometric data | |||
| Height m | 1.62±0.09 | 1.60±0.08+ | 1.65±0.1 |
| Weight kg | 117±23 | 119±23 | 123±24 |
| BMI kg·m−2 | 44±7 | 46±8 | 45±7 |
| Waist to hip ratio | |||
| Male | 1.03±0.1 | 1.04±0.07 | 1.00±0.06 |
| Female | 0.94±0.09 | 0.94±0.11 | 0.93±0.1 |
| Respiratory symptoms % | |||
| Any symptom | 57 | 70 | 61 |
| Chest pressure/pain | 23 | 23 | 18 |
| Dyspnoea | 46 | 60 | 54 |
| Cough | 19#,¶ | 41 | 40 |
| Wheeze | 8#,¶ | 45 | 32 |
| Associated diseases % | |||
| Hyperlipidaemia | 14 | 25 | 28 |
| Hypertension | 34#,¶ | 52+ | 46 |
| Sleep apnoea | 16#,¶ | 33 | 32 |
| Diabetes | 21 | 32 | 29 |
| Blood counts | |||
| WBC 103·µL−1 | 7.78±2.04 | 8.13±2.15 | 7.75±1.96 |
| Eosinophils % | 2.28±1.99 | 2.52±1.99 | 2.58±2.07 |
| Eosinophils 103·µL−1 | 0.17±0.13 | 0.20±0.18 | 0.20±0.20 |
Data are presented as mean±sd, unless otherwise stated. BMI: body mass index; WBC: white blood cell count. #: p<0.05 no asthma versus asthma obstructed spirometry; ¶: p<0.05 no asthma versus asthma normal spirometry; +: p<0.05 asthma normal spirometry versus asthma obstructed spirometry.