Respiratory medicine
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Respiratory medicine · Dec 2015
Multicenter StudyAssociation of early suspected acute exacerbations of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis with subsequent clinical outcomes and healthcare resource utilization.
Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) may be complicated by episodes of acute exacerbation. This study quantified the association between occurrence of suspected acute exacerbations of IPF (AEx-IPF) in the 6 months post-IPF diagnosis with clinical outcomes and IPF-related healthcare resource utilization (HRU). ⋯ Using a large sample of IPF patients from varied practice settings, we found a strong relationship between suspected early AEx-IPF and worse subsequent clinical outcomes and increased IPF-related HRU. This relationship was particularly pronounced for acute resource use.