3.1. Participants
The baseline characteristics of the asthma and control cohorts are summarized in Table 1. The mean age of patients in the asthma cohort was 49 years, and 64.1% were female. There were no significant differences regarding age and sex. Regarding the type of insurance, patients in the asthma cohort were more likely to receive medical aid compared with subjects in the control cohort. Detailed information regarding comorbidity profiles are summarized in Supplemental Table 1 .