Introduction:

Interstitial lung diseases generate in patients exercise intolerance, dyspnea, and a decrease in health-related quality of life. Pulmonary Rehabilitation plays an important role in the treatment of these patients.

Materials and Methods:

We conducted a retrospective study in a cohort of patients with interstitial lung disease (DILD) who underwent Pulmonary Rehabilitation (PR) between 2012 and 2015. Patients completed a 4-month treatment program including aerobic, core, and upper and lower limbs strength training and health education. Quality of life was measured with the St. George´s Respiratory Questionnaire (SGRQ), and exercise tolerance with the 6-minute walk test (6MWT) pre- and post-PR. Results were compared among patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) and other ILDs.

Results:

93 patients were included (46 male); 42 (44.09%) completed the program. After the PR, the SGRQ mean score decreased by 8.7 (95% CI [confidence interval]: 2.85-14.42), with no differences between the IPF and other diagnoses. The results of the 6MWT showed mean improvement of 14.07 m, not reaching statistical significance (p = 0.132). The subgroup of patients who walked less than 400 m (n = 18) showed clinical and statistically significant improvement (40.8 m; p = 0.025). We didn’t find differences in this test in terms of diagnosis.

Conclusions:

PR in this cohort of patients with ILD showed improvement in quality of life and exercise tolerance, with no differences regarding the specific diagnosis.