Cluster Analysis of Finnish Population-Based Adult-Onset Asthma Patients

• BACKGROUND: Phenotypes of adult asthma have been identified in previous studies but rarely in population-based settings.OBJECTIVE: To identify clusters of adult-onset asthma in a Finnish population-based study on subjects born before 1967.METHODS: We used population-based data from 1350 asthmatics with adult-onset asthma (Adult Asthma in Finland) from Finnish national registers. Twenty-eight covariates were selected based on literature. The number of covariates was reduced by using factor analysis before cluster analysis.RESULTS: Five clusters (CLU1-CLU5) were identified, 3 clusters with late-onset adult asthma (onset >= 40 years) and 2 clusters with onset at earlier adulthood (<40 years). Subjects in CLU1 (n = 666) had late-onset asthma and were nonobese, symptomatic, and predominantly female with few respiratory infections during childhood. CLU2 (n = 36) consisted of subjects who had earlier-onset asthma, were predominantly female, obese with allergic asthma, and had recurrent respiratory infections. Subjects in CLU3 (n = 75) were nonobese, older, and predominantly men with late-onset asthma, smoking history, comorbidities, severe asthma, least allergic diseases, low education, many siblings, and childhood in rural areas. CLU4 (n = 218) was a late-onset cluster consisting of obese females with comorbidities, asthma symptoms, and low education level. Subjects in CLU5 (n [ 260) had earlier onset asthma, were nonobese, and predominantly allergic females.CONCLUSIONS: Our population-based adult-onset asthma clusters take into account several critical factors such as obesity and smoking, and identified clusters that partially overlap with clusters identified in clinical settings. Results give us a more profound understanding of adult-onset asthma phenotypes and support personalized management. (c) 2023 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. on behalf of the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/ by/4.0/). (J Allergy Clin Immunol Pract 2023;11:3086-96)

Subject headings

MEDICIN OCH HÄLSOVETENSKAP  -- Medicinska och farmaceutiska grundvetenskaper -- Immunologi inom det medicinska området (hsv//swe)

MEDICAL AND HEALTH SCIENCES  -- Basic Medicine -- Immunology in the medical area (hsv//eng)

Keyword

Adult-onset asthma

Factor analysis

Cluster analysis

Population-based

research

respiratory-infections

prevalence

phenotypes

diagnosis

disease

age

endotypes

siblings

allergy

gender

Allergy

Immunology

Publication and Content Type

ref (subject category)

art (subject category)