4 phenotype clusters of elderly patients with asthma identified for the first time

This is reportedly the first attempt to classify asthma phenotypes in the elderly population.

The large research team from South Korea applied k-means cluster to 872 elderly patients with asthma (aged over 65 years) in a prospective, multicentered cohort over the course of 2 years.

4 phenotype clusters of elderly patients with asthma were identified:

- long symptom duration and marked airway obstruction
- female dominance and normal lung function
- smoking male dominance and reduced lung function
- high body mass index (BMI) and borderline lung function

Cluster grouping was predictive of asthma exacerbations. Decision-tree algorithm included 2 variables, FEV1 and smoking pack-years.

References:

http://www.annallergy.org/article/S1081-1206(14)00729-7/abstract