Decline in lung function increases the risk of death in patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis: a plain language summary

What is this summary about? Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a disease that leads to scarring of the lungs, loss of lung function, and ultimately death. This is a summary of a study that looked at the links between worsening of lung function and the risk of death or lung transplant in a real-world group of patients with IPF. What were the results? Data were collected from 1001 patients participating in the US IPF-PRO Registry, who were observed for an average of 38 months. The results suggested that even a 2% decline in forced vital capacity or diffusing capacity of the lungs, measured as a percentage of the value that would be expected in a healthy individual, increased the likelihood of death or lung transplant. What do the results mean? These findings highlight the importance of preservation of lung function in patients with IPF with appropriate treatment and of supportive care being provided to patients whose lung function is declining. How to say… Fibrosis: fahy-BROH-sis Idiopathic: id-ee-uh-PATH-ik This is an abstract of the Plain Language Summary of Publication article. View the full Plain Language Summary PDF of this article to read the full-text Link to original article here Trial registration:ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT01915511.