Antifibrotic treatment response and prognostic predictors in patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis and exposed to occupational dust

Table 1 Baseline demographic and clinical characteristics of the study population according to occupational dust exposure

Variables^a	Exposed (n = 62)	Not exposed (n = 53)	p
Male gender, %	79.0	69.8	0.21
Mean age, years (SD)	69.6 (7.3)	68.7 (8.7)
Mean age at symptoms onset (SD)	68.2 (7.9)	67.7 (9.1)
Mean time-span between symptoms onset and diagnosis, months (SD)	15.7 (17.3)	17.8 (25.0)
Educational level, %
-Primary/secondary school	50.1	28.3
-High school	30.6	17.0
-University degree	19.3	54.7	0.04
Mean BMI, kg/m² (SD)	28.0 (4.3)	28.1 (4.1)
Smoking status:
-Cigarette smoke (current or former), %	75.8	67.9
-Mean Pack/year (SD)	25.6 (24.0)	24.9 (27.8)
Comorbidities %
-None	11.3	3.8
-GERD	24.2	11.3
-Cancer	6.5	13.2
-Respiratory diseases	9.6	15.1
-Cardiovascular diseases	40.3	30.1
-Others	9.1	26.5
Family history of IPF, %	9.7	9.4
mMRC Breathlessness Scale grade^b, %
-Grade 0	4.8	9.3
-Grade 1	21.0	18.9
-Grade 2	32.3	43.4
-Grade 3	29.0	22.6
-Grade 4	12.9	5.7
Exposure to asbestos, %	46.8	18.9	0.002
Mean duration of asbestos exposure, years (SD)	8.9 (12.4)	5.8 (13.6)
Mean WHODAS 2.0 score (SD)	24.7 (18.6)	20.8 (19.2)
Mean HADS-A score (SD)	5.9 (3,2)	6.2 (3.5)
Mean HADS-D score (SD)	7.0 (3.1)	5.6 (3.4)
Pharmacological treatment, %
-None	16.1	7.6
-Pirfenidone	46.8	50.9
-Nintedanib	37.1	41.5

Exposed = occupational exposure to dust ≥10 years
Not exposed = occupational exposure to dust < 10 years
SD Standard deviation, BMI Body Mass Index, GERD Gastro-esophageal reflux disease, mMRC modified Medical Research Council, WHODAS 2.0 WHO Disability Assessment Schedule 2.0 tool, HADS-A Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale-Anxiety domain, HADS-D Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale-Depression domain
^aChi-squared test for categorical variables; Kruskal-Wallis test for normally-distributed and non normally distributed continuous variables, respectively. P-values that are not reported were > 0.05. P-values < 0.05 are reported in bold
^bEach grade of the mMRC Breathlessness Scale was scored as follows: Grade 0 = Not troubled by breathlessness except on strenuous exercise; Grade 1 = Short of breath when hurrying on the level or walking up a slight hill; Grade 2 = Walks slower than most people on the level, stops after a mile or so, or stops after 15 min walking at own pace; Grade 3 = Stops for breath after walking about 100 yards or after a few minutes on level ground; Grade 4 = Too breathless to leave the house, or breathless when undressing

ISSN: 1471-2466