ABSTRACT
End-of-life care (EOLC) is palliative support provided in the last 6 months to 1 year of a patient's life. Although there are established criteria for its indication, few studies describe the clinical and functional characteristics of individuals with interstitial lung diseases (ILD) in EOLC. ILD individuals underwent various assessments, including lung function, exercise capacity (6 min walk test), physical activity in daily life (PADL), peripheral muscle strength, maximal respiratory pressures, body composition, quality of life (SGRQ-I), symptoms of anxiety and depression, dyspnea (MRC scale), and sleep quality. Fifty-eight individuals were included and divided into two groups according to the indication for commencing EOLC (ILD with an indication of EOLC (ILD-EOLC) or ILD without an indication of EOLC (ILD-nEOLC). There were differences between the groups, respectively, for steps/day (2328 [1134-3130] vs. 5188 [3863-6514] n/day, p = 0.001), time spent/day carrying out moderate-to-vigorous physical activities (1 [0.4-1] vs. 10 [3-19] min/day, p = 0.0003), time spent/day in standing (3.8 [3.2-4.5] vs. 4.8 [4.1-6.7] h/day, p = 0.005), and lying positions (5.7 [5.3-6.9] vs. 4.2 [3.6-5.1] h/day, p = 0.0004), the sit-to-stand test (20 ± 4 vs. 26 ± 7 reps, p = 0.01), 4 m gait speed (0.92 ± 0.21 vs. 1.05 ± 0.15 m/s, p = 0.02), quadriceps muscle strength (237 [211-303] vs. 319 [261-446] N, p = 0.005), SGRQ-I (71 ± 15 vs. 50 ± 20 pts, p = 0.0009), and MRC (4 [3-5] vs. 2 [2-3] pts, p = 0.001). ILD individuals with criteria for commencing EOLC exhibit reduced PADL, functional performance, peripheral muscle strength, quality of life, and increased dyspnea.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: There is limited information regarding impairment in functional performance tests and their measurement properties in ILD. The present study aimed to verify the impairment and measurement properties of functional performance tests in ILD. METHODS: ILD and healthy individuals underwent assessments of pulmonary function, peripheral muscle strength (handgrip force and maximum isometric contraction of quadriceps femoris - MIVCq) and exercise capacity (6-min walk test - 6MWT). Functional performance was assessed by timed-up-and-go with usual (TUGu) and fast (TUGf) gait speeds, 4-m gait speed (4MGS), sit-to-stand in 30 s (30sec-STS), 1 min (1min-STS) and with 5 repetition (5rep-STS) and Short Physical Performance Battery (SPPB). Functional performance was compared between groups, validity (correlation with 6MWT and MIVCq) and reliability of tests were checked in subjects with ILD (intra- and inter-rater agreement analysis). RESULTS: Seventy-six participants (40 ILD [25 women, 61 ± 11 years, FVC 75 ± 17 %pred] and 36 healthy [22 women, 61 ± 9 years, FVC 97 ± 11 %pred]) were included. Functional performance in ILD was worse than in healthy individuals in all tests, except for the 30sec-STS (p = 0.13). Pre-specified validity criteria were reached for TUGu, TUGf, 4MGS and 5rep-STS (-0.69 < r < 0.55; p < 0.05 for all). Except for 4MGS and SPPB, all tests showed good to excellent inter-rater (0.85 < ICC<0.93; p < 0.05 for all) and all tests showed good to excellent intra-rater (0.83 < ICC< 0.94; p < 0.05 for all) reliability. CONCLUSIONS: Subjects with ILD present worse functional performance than healthy individuals. According to reliability and validity results, TUGu, TUGf and 5rep-STS seem to be the most appropriate tests to evaluate functional performance in ILD.
