Predicting trajectories of lung function decline in systemic sclerosis-related interstitial lung disease

Abstract

Objective SSc-related interstitial lung disease (SSc-ILD) is a major cause of morbidity. We aimed to identify patients following similar trajectories of forced vital capacity (FVC) decline, and examine their association with mortality and risk factors for FVC decline. Methods This is a multicentre retrospective study of 444 SSc patients with ILD and ≤7-year disease duration. Patients were grouped based on similar FVC decline trajectories using semi-parametric modelling with latent class analysis. Survival was compared between the worst FVC trajectory group and the others. Logistic regression models with backwards selection were applied to identify predictors of FVC trajectory using baseline ..