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P17 Impact of virtual nurse/pharmacist-led monitoring in patients with interstitial lung disease (ILD) on antifibrotic treatment in a UK ILD specialist centre

thoraxjnl · 2025-11-02 · canonical JSON source

8 visible annotations · policy: published · automated confidence ≥ 75.00%

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Background Antifibrotic medications are prescribed for Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (Pirfenidone or Nintedanib) and Progressive Fibrosing ILD (Nintedanib) with the aim of slowing disease progression. Unfortunately, side effects of these medications can be significant.Aim To understand if regular ILD nurse/pharmacist (RN/RPh) telephone contact with patients taking antifibrotic medication can positively impact therapeutic tolerance.Methods Retrospective antifibrotic prescribing data was collected from October 2020 to October 2024 from our ILD specialist centre. We analysed patient demographics, duration on antifibrotic therapy and number of RN/RPh telephone contacts.Results Data from 859 patients prescribed antifibrotics was analysed with 462 patients (54%) still on treatment in October 2024. During the study period, a total of 140 patients (16% of cohort) and 35% of patients who discontinued treatment died. Mean duration on treatment (days) in 2021 was 141 vs 305 in 2024; a 116% increase with an average annual rise of 33%. Longest use (days) was at 3192 for Nintedanib and 3127 for Pirfenidone. Since inception, RN/RPh-led monitoring has increased from 769 total contacts in 2021 to 1483 in 2024, an average annual rise of 25%.Conclusion Our preliminary ILD data demonstrates an annual increase in length of antifibrotic treatment since 2020, which could be related to the initiation of virtual RN/RPh-led monitoring. A comparative analysis of pre-initiation data would provide further insights into the role of RN/RPh in improving antifibrotic tolerance, as well as explore other variables that may influence sustained therapy maintenance.