BACKGROUND: Interstitial lung diseases (ILDs) are a group of progressive diseases with few effective treatments. Pulmonary rehabilitation is a non-pharmacological intervention with a proven role in COPD. However, there islimited evidence on its usefulness in patients with ILDs. OBJECTIVES: This study was planned to assess the effect of pulmonary rehabilitation on exercise capacity and health-related quality-of-life (HRQoL) in patients with ILD. METHODS: Forty patients with stable ILDs were randomised to receive either conventional treatment (control group) or standard treatment plus pulmonary rehabilitation programme for 8 weeks (study group). Exercise capacity wasassessed by six-minute walk test (6MWT) and QoL was measured by St George's Respiratory Questionnaire (SGRQ) at baseline and at the end of 8 weeks. RESULTS: At the end of 8 weeks, there was a statistically significant improvement in 6MWT distance (mean increase of 23.8 meters; p = 0.037) and a significant decline in the SGRQ score (by 8.8 units; p = 0.003) in the study group ascompared to the control group. CONCLUSION: Pulmonary rehabilitation improves exercise capacity and HRQoL in patients with stable ILDs.

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