영문초록
Purpose: There is a controversy that the older patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) have worse prognosis. We evaluated whether age and other factors can affect survival in patients with IPF.Methods: This retrospective observational study consisted of 1,685 patients with IPF by clinical (1,027 patients) or surgical (658 patients) diagnosis defined by the 2000 ATS/ERS consensus statement. Patients were enrolled from 54 hospitals in Korea from January 1, 2003 to December 31, 2007. They were stratified by four age groups (younger than 50 years, n=65; 50-60 years, n=252; 60-70 years, n=623; older than 70 years, n=748). We estimate the overall survival time. Results: The median survival time was 57.3 months in 1,685 patients. The median survival time of the group of older than 70 years was significantly shorter than that of other groups: [<50 years, 63.0 months; 50-60 years, 63.0 months; 60-70 years, 65.0 months; >70 years, 38.8 months (p=0.001)]. There was a significant difference in smoking status, presence of exertional dyspnea, forced vital capacity (FVC), forced expired volume in one second, total lung capacity, diffusion capacity of carbon monoxide, and arterial oxygen pressure at initial diagnosis between age groups. Age, presence of lung cancer, and FVC were significantly correlated with survival rate on the multivariate analysis. Conclusions: The overall survival time of the group of older than 70 years was significantly shorter than that of other groups. And age, presence of lung cancer, and FVC were the independent factors that were significantly correlated with survival.