Role of peripheral eosinophilia in acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

Table 2 Comparison of length of hospital stay, steroid use, history of admissions and readmissions, and hospital discharge outcomes between the groups

Variables	EOS group (n = 176)	Non-EOS group (n = 449)	P value
Length of stay (d)	8.81 ± 5.95	10.00 ± 7.12	0.049
Prednisolone equivalent, mg	302.65 ± 341.35	373.35 ± 409.25	0.021
Major treatment (%)			0.095
None	4 (2.3)	6 (1.3)
Antibiotics only	25 (14.2)	36 (8)
Steroid only	27 (15.3)	75 (16.7)
Antibiotics + steroid	176 (68.2)	332 (73.9)
Hospitalization before admission within 12 mo, n (%)	111 (63.1)	242 (53.9)	0.047
No. of hospitalizations within 12 mo before admission	2.05 ± 2.41	1.44 ± 2.12	0.004
Hospitalizations after admission within 12 mo, n (%)	125 (71.0)	251 (55.9)	0.001
First readmission (days after discharge)	83.13 ± 90.01	73.85 ± 77.13	0.301
No. of readmissions within 12 mo	2.14 ± 2.34	1.53 ± 2.14	0.002
Discharge outcome, n (%)			0.204
Home discharge	176 (100.0)	441 (98.2)
RCW	0 (0)	4 (0.9)
Death	0 (0)	4 (0.9)

Data are present as mean ± SD and number (percentage). Independent samples t-test was used for comparison of continuous data. Chi-squared test was used for comparison of categorical variables. RCW: Respiratory care ward; EOS group: Patients with eosinophil count ≥ 2%; Non-EOS group: Patients with eosinophil count < 2%.