Descriptive characteristics of the study population
| Item | Female | Male | Whole population | P-value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Simple size (% on total) | 100 (38.17) | 162 (61.83) | 262 | |
| Age (median IQR) | 5 (3.5 to 8.5) | 6 (4 to 10) | 6 (4 to 9) | 0.466 |
| BMI (median IQR) | 17.58 (15.70 to 20.32) | 18.04 (15.57 to 21.52) | 17.80 (15.67 to 20.93) | 0.818 |
| Weight | ||||
| Underweight (column %) | 4 (4.00) | 13 (8.02) | 17 (6.49) | 0.424 |
| Healthy weight (column %) | 48 (48.00) | 72 (44.44) | 120 (45.80) | |
| Overweight (column %) | 48 (48.00) | 77 (47.53) | 125 (47.71) | |
| RRIS (column %) | 25 (25.00) | 37 (22.84) | 62 (23.66) | 0.399 |
| At least one respiratory infection (column %) | 80 (80.00) | 134 (82.72) | 214 (81.68) | 0.347 |
| n-RI (median IQR)* | 2 (2 to 4) | 2 (1 to 4) | 2 (1 to 4) | 0.306 |
| Fever (column %) | 66 (66.00) | 112 (69.14) | 178 (67.94) | 0.346 |
| n-fever (median IQR)* | 1 (1 to 2) | 2 (1 to 3) | 1.75 (1 to 2.5) | 0.324 |
| Antibiotic (column %) | 66 (66.00) | 105 (64.81) | 171 (65.27) | 0.477 |
| n-antibiotic (median IQR)* | 2 (1 to 2.75) | 1 (1 to 2) | 2 (1 to 2) | 0.247 |
In the descriptive statistics, the Shapiro-Wilk test, Fisher’s exact test, chi-squared test, and Wilcoxon rank-sum test were utilized, each applied as relevant to the data. *: In these analyses, patients who had not experienced any episodes were excluded from the descriptive evaluation; RRIS: recurrent respiratory infections in the last six months; antibiotic: at least one use of antibiotics in last six months; fever: presence of fever in last six months; n-RI: number of respiratory infections in last six months; n-fever: number of febrile episodes per patient in last six months; n-antibiotic: at least one number of antibiotic courses in last six months. IQR: interquartile range; BMI: body mass index
