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Background: The term "interstitial lung disease" (ILD) refers to a range of disorders that induce lung scarring (fibrosis). The present study was done to evaluate the Clinical characteristics of Interstitial Lung Diseases (ILDs) patients. Material & methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted at Tertiary Care Teaching Hospital. All consecutive patients of all types of ILDs, attending the outpatient services of the Department of Pulmonary Medicine were enrolment and subjected to focused socio-demographic history. Data was analyzed using Epi info V7 software by applying appropriate statistical tests. Results: The present study includes 68 patients of different types of ILD. Among the study population, 36 (52.9%) were female and 32 (47.1%) were male. The mean age of males and females was 64.615+3.26 years and 56.187+ 5.24 years respectively. Also, there was no significant difference between males and females regarding the duration of illness (2.87 ±2.46 years versus 3.87+2.15 years, p=0.438). Cough was the predominant symptom observed in 66 patients followed by breathlessness mMRC grade II/III in 62 patients. The exertional chest pain was reported by 24 patients. History of syncope was recorded in 20 patients. On examination, a total of 42 patients had clubbing of different grades. Overall, sixteen patients had raised JVP. Velcro crackle was detected on auscultation among 38 patients. There was no significant male-female difference with regards to symptoms. Conclusion: Most of ILD patient’s had cough, breathlessness mMRC grade II/III, exertional chest pain, history of syncope, clubbing, raised JVP and Velcro crackle on auscultation. |