Effect of Pregnancy on Quantitative Medication Use and Relation to Exacerbations in Asthma

Table 4

Comparison of asthma exacerbations before, during, and after pregnancy, according to the study groups.

Exacerbation	Group	Before pregnancy	During pregnancy	After pregnancy
		Frequencies/month
		Mean ± sd	Mean ± sd	Mean ± sd
Systemic corticosteroid prescription	Total	0.0081 ± 0.116	0.0027 ± 0.059	0.0054 ± 0.096	<0.0001
	Group 1	0.0307 ± 0.195	0.0293 ± 0.211	0.04 ± 0.273	0.1703
	Group 2	0.0205 ± 0.213	0.0073 ± 0.097	0.0142 ± 0.156	<0.0001
	Group 3	0.0222 ± 0.22	0.0057 ± 0.088	0.0117 ± 0.169	<0.0001
	Group 4	0.0072 ± 0.107	0.0025 ± 0.056	0.0048 ± 0.09	<0.0001
Hospitalization	Total	0.0005 ± 0.023	0.0007 ± 0.028	0.0002 ± 0.015	<0.0001
	Group 1	0.0074 ± 0.094	0.0164 ± 0.137	0.007 ± 0.084	0.0023
	Group 2	0.003 ± 0.056	0.0052 ± 0.076	0.0012 ± 0.034	<0.0001
	Group 3	0.0012 ± 0.035	0.0045 ± 0.073	0.0015 ± 0.041	<0.0001
	Group 4	0.0004 ± 0.021	0.0004 ± 0.021	0.0001 ± 0.012	<0.0001
ED visit	Total	0.0001 ± 0.01	0.0002 ± 0.016	0.00004 ± 0.007	<0.0001
	Group 1	0.0033 ± 0.064	0.0049 ± 0.082	0.003 ± 0.054	0.5691
	Group 2	0.0009 ± 0.031	0.0022 ± 0.05	0.0003 ± 0.018	<0.0001
	Group 3	0.0003 ± 0.016	0.0018 ± 0.044	0.0006 ± 0.025	<0.0001
	Group 4	0.0001 ± 0.008	0.0001 ± 0.011	0.00002 ± 0.004	<0.0001
Overall exacerbation	Total	0.0087 ± 0.121	0.0037 ± 0.075	0.0056 ± 0.099	<0.0001
	Group 1	0.0415 ± 0.272	0.0507 ± 0.335	0.0504 ± 0.323	0.4758
	Group 2	0.0289 ± 0.235	0.0146 ± 0.167	0.0157 ± 0.165	<0.0001
	Group 3	0.0236 ± 0.228	0.0119 ± 0.161	0.0138 ± 0.184	<0.0001
	Group 4	0.0077 ± 0.111	0.003 ± 0.065	0.005 ± 0.092	<0.0001
Ventolin nebulizer treatment	Total	0.0032 ± 0.061	0.003 ± 0.059	0.0026 ± 0.057	<0.0001
	Group 1	0.0967 ± 0.347	0.0844 ± 0.328	0.0904 ± 0.363	0.4664
	Group 2	0.0333 ± 0.199	0.0293 ± 0.189	0.0259 ± 0.177	<0.0001
	Group 3	0.0175 ± 0.144	0.0181 ± 0.157	0.0187 ± 0.159	0.5906
	Group 4	0.0018 ± 0.044	0.0016 ± 0.041	0.0012 ± 0.038	<0.0001

value according to the multivariate analysis of variance; ED, emergency department; sd, standard deviation.