Grant: Project Grant - Priority Announcement: Acute Care in Older Adults

Interstitial lung diseases are a group of rare diseases causing scarring (fibrosis) of the lungs. They lead to shortness of breath, poor quality of life, and premature death. Identifying early worsening of disease is important so physicians can start treatment early, or modify therapy that is ineffective. Currently, disease progression is assessed by measuring lung function using a group of tests called pulmonary function tests. One of the tests, spirometry, requires that the patient make a maximal effort while blowing out air for a duration of at least 6 seconds. At least three tests in the same session are required. Spirometry is often challenging to perform for patients with interstitial lung disease, especially in patients with severe disease. It also may not detect small changes in lung function over time. Oscillometry is a different technique to measure lung function that does not require any effort on the patient's part. The patient is only required to breathe normally through the mouthpiece of the device. Our team has done some preliminary research that suggests that oscillometry correlates well with spirometry, and may even detect worsening of disease better and earlier than spirometry. The objective of this project will be to determine if oscillometry can identify disease worsening over time better than current pulmonary function tests including spirometry, and if these changes can help predict who will go on to die prematurely of this disease. We also propose to evaluate if oscillometry is easier to perform and more acceptable to patients compared to spirometry. We will conduct this study in a group of Canadian patients with interstitial lung disease who are already enrolled in a large research cohort called the Canadian Registry for Pulmonary Fibrosis.