Due to the established differences between Feno for atopic and nonatopic subjects, separate multivariate regression models were constructed for both atopic and nonatopic individuals using transformed Feno values as the outcome variable. Factors that had a significance level of at least p < 0.1 from univariate analyses were included in these models. These were age, height, gender, history of PDA ever, current PDA, recent wheeze, DRS, current smoking, and atopy.
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Respiratory assessment |
Variables in all models were excluded in a backward step-wise fashion. Regression coefficients were log transformed back, and are reported as the fold difference between categorical variables, eg, symptoms, or fold increase per unit change in continuous variables. Feno levels, DRS, and blood eosinophil values are reported as geometric means with 95% confidence intervals (CIs). All analyses were performed using SPSS version 10.0.7 (SPSS; Chicago, IL).
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Two hundred forty-six study subjects underwent a respiratory assessment; however, only 115 attended the hospital where Feno concentrations were measured. These subjects are included in the analyses for this article. There were no differences between subjects with and without Feno measurements for age, gender, and proportion with asthma, atopy, and PD20 < 7.8. Of the 115 subjects with Feno measurements, 77 were women and the mean age was 41 years (range, 31 to 56 years). The men (mean age, 43 years; SD 4) were older than the women (mean age, 39 years; SD 4) [p < 0.001]. Subject details are presented separately for men and women in Table 1.
Feno measurements of two asthmatics treated with regular inhaled steroids were 10.9 ppb and 11.8 ppb, respectively, and due to known effects of inhaled corticosteroids on Feno,21 these data were not included in analyses. SPT was performed in all of the remaining 113 individuals, bronchial challenge in 110 patients, spirometry in 112 patients, and eosinophil count in 112 patients. Seventy-eight study subjects (68%) were atopic, 31 subjects (26%) had a history of PDA ever, 20 subjects (18%) had current PDA, 25 subjects (22%) currently smoked, 19 subjects (17%) reported wheeze in the past 12 months, and 19 subjects (17%) had increased AR.