Statistical Analysis
The primary endpoint was comparison of tissue outcomes between baseline
and 24 weeks (six months) of treatment with mepolizumab. Statistical
analyses were performed using SPSS version 26 (SPSS Inc., United
States),24 and graphs were presented using GraphPad
Prism 8 version 8.2.1 (GraphPad Software, United
States).25 Descriptive statistics were given for
demographics, baseline characteristics, and outcome measures. Mean and
standard deviation (SD) were summarised for normally distributed
continuous variables. Median and interquartile range (IQR) were
summarised for continuous variables that were not normally distributed
and for ordinal variables. Frequencies were summarised for nominal
variables. Parametric results were expressed as mean±1 SD.
Non-parametric results were expressed as median [IQR]. Paired
samples t-test was utilised for continuous data. For ordinal data with
less than four levels, data was transformed into binary nominal
variables. Pairwise analysis for baseline versus Week 24 was performed
using McNemar’s test for proportions. For variables scored by more than
one reviewer, the average measures Intraclass Correlation Coefficient
was calculated. All p -values were 2-tailed and a value of
<0.05 was considered statistically significant.