Frequency of observed interstitial lung disease in a secondary care hospital in the North West of England

Abstract

Background: The prevalence of interstitial lung disease (ILD) varies considerably across the globe. In the UK, idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is the most common condition seen in ILD clinic, however data describing the distribution of diseases is sparse.

Aims: To describe the frequency distribution of different forms of ILD presenting to a secondary care hospital trust in Manchester, UK.

Methods: We performed a retrospective analysis of a database of all patients presenting to ILD clinics at Pennine Acute Hospitals Trust between 2008 and 2020. Patients with a diagnosis of ILD, as per international guidelines, were included.

Results: A total of 1298 patients were included. 57% of patients were male with a mean age of 65.4. Table 1 shows the frequency distribution of the different forms of ILD seen in clinic. IPF was most commonly seen with 474 (36.5%) patients.

Conclusions: These data confirm that IPF is the most frequent ILD diagnosed in our population. This highlights the geographical variation in ILD prevalence, with previous French (Duchemann, et al. ERJ, 2017; 50(2)) and Indian (Singh, S. et al. AJRCCM. 2017; 195(6):801-813) studies reporting much lower frequency of IPF.