Health and employment outcomes in hypersensitivity pneumonitis
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Hypersensitivity pneumonitis from a UK regional ILD and occupational lung disease service database: long-term clinical outcomes and employment status at 1- and 5-year following diagnosis
IRAS ID
264847
Contact name
Gareth Walters
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier
n/a, n/a
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 5 months, 1 days
Research summary
Hypersensitivity pneumonitis (HP) is a disease of the lung (interstitium) which is induced by a allergic (hypersensitivity) reaction to an inhaled microbe, protein, chemical or metal. In the UK traditionally the commonest cause has been mould at work (farmers’ lung) though metalworking fluid has now become the most frequently reported occupational cause from surveillance schemes. In 50% of cases of HP a cause is not identified. It is an uncommon disease, and as such, little is known about long term health and employment outcomes for patients, particularly for those who leave their employment when exposure occurred. We intend to (1) describe the changes in lung function, treatment status, and employment status of HP patients with occupational and non-occupational causes, at 1 and 5 years following diagnosis, and (2) determine the differences in these variables between occupational and non-occupational HP patients, at these time points. The design will be a retrospective cohort study, and the sample population will be all cases of HP (with a known cause) diagnosed by multi-disciplinary team consensus at University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust (HGS) between 2002 and 2016 (n=106). Diagnostic details (eg. exposures, employment status, lung function, imaging results, immunology) for all patients are kept in a clinical database at the Trust. In addition to existing diagnostic data, the following data at 1 and 5 years following diagnosis will be collected from individual patient records: actual and predicted lung function parameters (eg. forced vital capacity, gas transfer), employment status (job, industry, change of job and reason, exposure to causative agent), and disease-specific treatment (eg. inhaled steroids). The data will be displayed with averages/measures of spread and proportions, and analysed by comparing actual and proportional change in lung function, proportion of patients with ongoing treatment requirements, and actual and proportional change in employment circumstances and exposures.
REC name
East of England - Cambridge East Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
19/EE/0182
Date of REC Opinion
2 Jul 2019
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion