Timing of onset of symptoms in people with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis
- PMID: 29021387
- DOI: 10.1136/thoraxjnl-2017-210177
Timing of onset of symptoms in people with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis
Abstract
Little is known about when symptoms of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis first develop. We identified incident cases of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis-clinical syndrome (IPF-CS) from a UK primary care database and assessed the frequency of consultations for common symptoms in the 5 years prior to diagnosis. 1671 cases were identified with 5 years of data prior to diagnosis. Breathlessness was the most common symptom, followed by cough. Cases were significantly more likely than controls to experience these symptoms (p<0.001), even 4-5 years before diagnosis (OR for breathlessness for this period 2.79, 95% CI 2.13 to 3.65). This suggests that some patients with IPF may be symptomatic for more than 5 years before diagnosis.
Keywords: clinical epidemiology; idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.
© Article author(s) (or their employer(s) unless otherwise stated in the text of the article) 2017. All rights reserved. No commercial use is permitted unless otherwise expressly granted.
Conflict of interest statement
Competing interests: RBH and TMM have received grants from GSK for the PROFILE study, which aims to examine longitudinal disease behaviour and potential biomarkers in IPF. JPH has received funding from GSK for delivering a teaching session on asthma, and from Actelion to attend a two-day preceptorship on pulmonary hypertension. TH, JEG and VN have no competing interests.
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