A New Tool to Assess Quality of life in Patients with Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis or Non-Specific Interstitial Pneumonia *

Background: Quality of life (QoL) is significantly impaired in patients with pulmonary fibrosis, however reliable tools to assess QoL are still missing. We thus aimed to develop a new questionnaire called QPF to measure QoL in patients with fibrotic idiopathic interstitial pneumonias (IIP) . Methods: As part of a multi-center validation study in a pre-post design, 200 patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) or idiopathic non-specific interstitial pneumonia (iNSIP) filled in the questionnaire at 2 measurement time points with an interval of 6 months. Cross-validation was carried out with the St. Georges Respiratory Questionnaire (SGRQ). Results: The alpha of the QPF-total score and its subscales range from .858 to .616 and can be rated as good. In contrast to the SGRQ, the QPF was able to detect a change in the patient's mood ("Condition" scale) in the course of treatment. This could be due to the SGRQ being a condition specific measure but also due to the greater amount of items, especially those with a job-related theme, which are not relevant for the sample examined. The questionnaire can be used to evaluate treatment response more appropriately, by collecting data on physical performance and general behaviour. Conclusion: This newly developed questionnaire maps the special needs of the patients well and is superior to the SGRQ. The QPF is suitable for screening as well as for supplementing the medical history and for monitoring the course of disease in fibrotic IIPs.