Subject Characteristics
A total of 1,386 asthmatic patients and 5,205 controls were used for genetic association analyses. The demographic information of the study population is shown in Table 1. The average ages of asthmatic patients and controls were 50.3 and 49.8 years, respectively. Although age and smoking history did not differ between the two groups, the proportion of females was higher in the asthmatic group than in the control group (55.2% vs. 44.1%). In addition, the body mass index (BMI) was higher in the asthmatic group than in the control group (24.3±3.6 vs. 23.1±3.1). In comparison with the control group, the asthmatic group demonstrated lower baseline FEV1 levels (78.8±20.2 vs. 101.8±12.2) and FEV1/forced vital capacity (FVC) (70.7±0.1 vs. 82.0±0.1).