Herbal Medicine Cordyceps sinensis Improves Health-Related Quality of Life in Moderate-to-Severe Asthma

Table 1

Characteristics of the 120 subjects at baseline assessment.

	Total	Control group ()	Treatment group ()
Demographic characteristics
Gender: male/female	54/66	40/20	34/26
Age (years): medium (IQR)	53.50 (46, 63)	56 (50, 63)	52 (45.25, 61)
Duration of asthma (years): medium (IQR)	10 (5, 19.5)	7.5 (4, 12)	10.5 (8, 20)
Current smoker: (%)	34 (28.3)	16 (26.7)	18 (30.0)
BMI	24.14 (3.65)	24.13 (3.49)	24.15 (3.84)
Asthma medications
Inhaled corticosteroids (ug/d): medium (IQR)	500 (500, 700)	500 ± (500, 750)	500 ± (200, 750)
Oral steroids (maintenance): (%)	20 (16.6)	9 (15.0)	11 (18.3)
Long-acting β2 agonists: (%)	15 (12.5)	8 (13.3)	7 (11.7)
Anticholinergics: (%)	25 (20.8)	14 (23.3)	11 (18.3)
Theophylline: (%)	11 (9.16)	5 (8.33)	6 (10.0)
Leukotriene antagonists: (%)	15 (12.5)	7 (11.7)	8 (13.3)
Clinical symptoms
Daytime exacerbation: medium (IQR)	5 (2, 10)	5 (4, 6)	7 (1, 12)
Nighttime exacerbation: medium (IQR)	6 (2, 10)	10 (5, 10)	4 (2, 9)
Nighttime awakenings: medium (IQR)	12 (5, 20)	15 (10, 20)	11 (5, 18.75)
Asthma symptom-free days: medium (IQR)	25 (10, 45)	15 (0, 40)	25.5 (10, 52.5)
Rescue-free days: medium (IQR)	0 (0, 38.75)	10 (0, 45)	2 (0, 27.5)

Daytime exacerbation: daytime exacerbations during the 90 days that preceded visit.
Nighttime exacerbation: nighttime exacerbations during the 90 days that preceded visit.
Nighttime awakenings: nighttime awakenings during the 90 days that preceded visit.
Symptom-free days: days free of asthma symptoms during the 90 days that preceded visit.
Rescue-free days: days free of rescue medication during the 90 days that preceded visit.
IQR: interquartile range between upper quartile and lower quartile.