Characteristics of subjects included in analyses of the association between blood cells and acute exacerbations of COPD, categorised by baseline blood cells
| Total | NLR | B-Eos (cells·µL−1) | ||||
| <3.00 | ≥3.00 | <150 | ≥150–<300 | ≥300 | ||
| Subjects n | 466 | 345# | 117# | 176# | 159# | 127# |
| Recruited from | ||||||
| Secondary care | 55 (11.8) | 33 (9.6) | 22 (18.8) | 26 (14.8) | 19 (11.9) | 10 (7.9) |
| Primary care | 411 (88.2) | 312 (90.4) | 95 (81.2) | 150 (85.2) | 140 (88.1) | 117 (92.1) |
| Age | 68.7±7.5 | 68.1±7.6 | 70.1±7.0 | 68.7±7.7 | 68.2±6.9 | 69.0±7.8 |
| Female | 268 (57.5) | 198 (57.4) | 67 (57.3) | 98 (55.7) | 106 (66.7) | 61 (48.0) |
| Current smoker | 122 (26.2) | 94 (27.2) | 27 (23.1) | 40 (22.7) | 46 (28.9) | 35 (27.6) |
| BMI (kg m−2) | 27.0±4.9 | 26.8±4.7 | 27.4±5.4 | 26.7±4.9 | 27.3±4.9 | 26.9±4.8 |
| CAT score | 11.0 (7.0–16.0) | 10.0 (6.0–16.0) | 12.0 (8.0–20.0) | 11.0 (6.5–18.0) | 11.0 (8.0–16.0) | 10.0 (6.0–16.0) |
| ≥1 AECOPD previous year | 177 (38.1) | 117 (34.1) | 59 (50.4) | 65 (36.9) | 61 (38.6) | 50 (39.7) |
| FEV1 % pred | 57.6±17.1 | 58.8±15.9 | 54.4±19.6 | 56.3±18.2 | 57.7±16.4 | 59.6±16.1 |
| FEV1 grades | ||||||
| GOLD grade 1 | 45 (9.7) | 33 (9.6) | 12 (10.3) | 17 (9.7) | 18 (11.3) | 10 (7.9) |
| GOLD grade 2 | 265 (56.9) | 212 (61.4) | 52 (44.4) | 95 (54.0) | 86 (54.1) | 83 (65.4) |
| GOLD grade 3 | 130 (27.9) | 89 (25.8) | 38 (32.5) | 52 (29.5) | 45 (28.3) | 30 (23.6) |
| GOLD grade 4 | 26 (5.6) | 11 (3.2) | 15 (12.8) | 12 (6.8) | 10 (6.3) | 4 (3.1) |
| Asthma | 152 (32.7) | 107 (31.1) | 43 (36.8) | 54 (30.7) | 55 (34.8) | 41 (32.3) |
| Chronic bronchitis | 155 (33.3) | 113 (32.8) | 41 (35.0) | 57 (32.4) | 39 (24.7) | 58 (45.7) |
| Coronary heart disease | 47 (10.1) | 33 (9.6) | 14 (12.0) | 15 (8.5) | 14 (8.8) | 18 (14.2) |
| Heart failure | 22 (4.7) | 13 (3.8) | 9 (7.7) | 7 (4.0) | 8 (5.0) | 7 (5.5) |
| Depression or anxiety | 104 (22.4) | 76 (22.2) | 27 (23.1) | 37 (21.1) | 40 (25.3) | 26 (20.5) |
| ICS, current use | 264 (57.6) | 189 (55.6) | 72 (63.2) | 99 (56.6) | 89 (58.2) | 73 (57.9) |
| LABA, current use | 250 (53.6) | 178 (51.6) | 69 (59.0) | 93 (52.8) | 93 (58.5) | 61 (48.0) |
| LAMA, current use | 292 (62.7) | 209 (60.6) | 81 (69.2) | 107 (60.8) | 103 (64.8) | 80 (63.0) |
| Long-term oxygen, current use | 9 (1.9) | 7 (2.0) | 2 (1.7) | 5 (2.8) | 4 (2.5) | 0 (0.0) |
| B-leukocytes | 7.5 (6.5–8.9) | 7.3 (6.3–8.6) | 8.4 (7.1–10.2) | 7.1 (6.1–8.4) | 7.6 (6.5–9.0) | 7.9 (7.0–9.6) |
| B-Eos | 0.2 (0.1–0.3) | 0.2 (0.1–0.3) | 0.2 (0.1–0.3) | 0.1 (0.1–0.1) | 0.2 (0.2–0.2) | 0.4 (0.3–0.4) |
| B-Eos categories | ||||||
| <150 | 176 (38.1) | 122 (35.4) | 54 (46.2) | 176 (100.0) | 0 (0.0) | 0 (0.0) |
| ≥150–<300 | 159 (34.4) | 125 (36.2) | 34 (29.1) | 0 (0.0) | 159 (100.0) | 0 (0.0) |
| ≥300 | 127 (27.5) | 98 (28.4) | 29 (24.8) | 0 (0.0) | 0 (0.0) | 127 (100.0) |
| B-neutrophils | 4.6 (3.7–5.6) | 4.2 (3.4–4.9) | 6.0 (5.0–7.2) | 4.6 (3.6–5.4) | 4.4 (3.5–5.6) | 4.7 (3.8–5.8) |
| B-lymphocytes | 2.0 (1.6–2.5) | 2.2 (1.8–2.6) | 1.5 (1.2–1.8) | 1.8 (1.5–2.3) | 2.1 (1.6–2.6) | 2.0 (1.7–2.6) |
| NLR | 2.2 (1.7–3.0) | 2.0 (1.5–2.4) | 3.9 (3.4–4.9) | 2.4 (1.9–3.2) | 2.1 (1.6–2.8) | 2.2 (1.6–2.9) |
| NLR ≥3.00 | 117 (25.3) | 0 (0.0) | 117 (100.0) | 54 (30.7) | 34 (21.4) | 29 (22.8) |
| Thrombocytes | 267±69 | 266±68 | 268±72 | 257±70 | 273±65 | 271±71 |
Data presented as n (%) for categorical and binary variables and mean±sd or median (interquartile range) for quantitative variables, unless otherwise stated. NLR: blood neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio; B-Eos: blood eosinophils; BMI: body mass index; CAT: COPD Assessment Test; AECOPD: acute exacerbation of COPD; FEV1: forced expiratory volume in 1 s; GOLD: Global initiative for Obstructive Lung Disease; ICS: inhaled corticosteroids; LABA: long-acting β2-agonists; LAMA: long-acting muscarinic antagonists. #: sum of strata (n=462) does not equal total population (n=466) due to missing blood cell data.