PhD Defence Ada (Aadje) Elisabeth Maria Bloem

Keywords: Patients with Interstitial Lung Diseases, Symptom burden, Functional exercise capacity, 6-min walk test prognostics 2-year transplant-free survival 
 

"Patient-reported outcomes and functional capacity in patients with ILD Patiëntgerapporteerde uitkomsten en functionele capaciteit in patiënten met ILD"

This thesis examines the symptom burden (part 1) and functional exercise capacity (part 2) of patients with interstitial lung disease (ILD), specifically pulmonary fibrosis and pulmonary sarcoidosis.  

Explanation: 

Part 1: Focus on patient-reported outcomes, such as fatigue. It was found that severe fatigue is common in patients with pulmonary fibrosis or sarcoidosis, and that severe fatigue is associated with a negative experience. In addition to fatigue, patients with ILD experience more respiratory-related and non-respiratory-related symptoms than healthy peers. 

Part 2: Focus on functional exercise capacity, measured by the 6-minute walk test (6MWT). The study demonstrated good 6MWT test-retest reliability on 1 day; however, one test is sufficient to determine exercise-related oxygen saturation decrease. The 6MWT provides more insight into exercise capacity than simpler tests, such as the 4-meter-gait-speedtest and the 5x sit-to-stand test. The 6MWT shows added value in predicting 2-year transplant-free survival in patients with pulmonary fibrosis. In short, the study provides valuable insights into symptom burden and functional exercise capacity of patients with ILD, which can lead to more adequate personalized treatment. 

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