Abstract Rationale Interstitial Lung Abnormalities (ILA) are often incidental findings on thoracic computed tomography. Symptom review at assessment may help to differentiate ILA from interstitial lung disease (ILD) if considered consistent with interstitial changes. The aim of this study is to ascertain symptom burden in ILA and assess potential contributing factors to these symptoms. Method Data was collected prospectively from patients reviewed in a dedicated ILA clinic in a tertiary UK ILD centre, between August 2023 to July 2025. Baseline demographics, comorbidities, medications, lung function and radiology were collected using a standardised proforma. Respiratory symptoms were measured using MRC score and visual analogue score for breathlessness (VAS-B) and cough (VAS-C). VAS scores were dichotomised into “high” and “low” groups using the median. Univariate logistic regression was used to identify significant associations (p 0.05) between clinical variables and high VAS-B and VAS-C scores. Significant variables were included in a multivariate model using forward selection to independent risk factors for each score. Results 110 patients were reviewed in the ILA clinic. 74 (67.3%) individuals reported respiratory symptoms at assessment with 24 (21.8%) reporting breathlessness, 13 (11.8%) cough and 37 (33.6%) both symptoms. Median symptom scores were an MRC 1 (range 0-4), VAS breathlessness 20 (range 0-95), VAS cough 15 (range 0-93). On univariate analysis, ever smokers (Odds ratio OR 3.0 CI 1.3-7.0, p = 0.01), number of co-morbidities (OR 1.1, CI 1.0-1.3, p = 0.04), presence of respiratory co-morbidity (OR 3.5, CI 1.5-8.0), asthma (OR 6.2, CI 1.6-23.4, p = 0.007), number of medications (OR 1.19, CI 1.2-1.3), p = 0.002) and BMI (OR 1.1, CI 1.0-1.2, p = 0.03) were associated with a high VAS-B score. Ever smokers and asthma remained independent risk factors after multivariate analysis On analysis of high VAS-C, ever smoker (OR 3.2, CI 1.4-7.4, p = 0.006), respiratory co-morbidity (OR 3.6, CI 1.6-8.2, p = 0.002), COPD (OR 3.6, CI 1.2-10.9, p = 0.02) and BMI (OR 1.1, CI 1.0-1.2, p = 0.03) were significant associations. Ever smokers and respiratory co-morbidity remained independent risk factors in multivariate analysis. Conclusion We demonstrate that a significant proportion of patients with ILA have respiratory symptoms. Smoking history and the presence of respiratory co-morbidity significantly contributed to symptom burden unlike lung function parameters and radiological features. The results suggest holistic assessment is required to determine whether symptoms are attributable to ILA. This abstract is funded by: None
Hardy et al. (Fri,) studied this question.