Gender perspective in Interstitial Lung Diseases (ILD)

Introduction: Gender may provoke differences in ILD susceptibility, presentation, severity and associated outcomes, as well as response to treatment. Objectives: To establish, from a gender perspective, frequency of the different ILD, demographic characteristics, diagnostic methods and treatment. Material and methods: Retrospective study of patients reviewed in ILD consult. The information is collected in a computer database. Variables included were: age, smoking status, final diagnosis, diagnostic methods, lung function tests and treatment. Results: 437 patients (42.5%♀,57.5%♂). The most used treatment in women was corticosteroids (42%), 37.1% of patients did not receive any treatment. Conclusions: The age of onset is similar in both sexes. Women present less functional impairment at diagnosis. Although males have a greater smoking habit, no differences were found regarding smoking-related ILD. The higher percentage of women treated may be due to the type of ILD.