National data on prevalence of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis and antifibrotic drug use in Finnish specialised care

Abstract

<b>Introduction:</b> Previous published studies presenting comprehensive nationwide data on IPF patients and their antifibrotic drug use are sparse. <b>Aims and objectives:</b> Our aim was to find out the nationwide number of IPF patients, their hospital treatment periods and antifibrotic drug use in Finland in 2016–2021. <b>Methods:</b> We made an information request for Finnish National Hospital Discharge Register (Hilmo) covering the whole population of Finland to find out the annual numbers of IPF patients coded with International Classification of Diseases version 10 code J84.1, their outpatient visits in specialised care and hospital treatment periods in 2016–2021. The numbers of the patients using pirfenidone and nintedanib were requested from the Social Insurance Institution of Finland. <b>Results:</b> The prevalence of IPF in Finnish specialised care was 35.3 per 100,000 in 2021. The number of antifibrotic drug users had risen during the follow-up period. 36% of IPF patients used pirfenidone or nintedanib in 2021. The number of hospital treatment periods caused by IPF had declined during the follow-up time although&nbsp;the total number of IPF patients had increased. <b>Conclusions:</b> The prevalence of IPF was higher than expected in Finland and had increased during the 6-years’ follow-up time. The increasing numbers of IPF patients using antifibrotic drugs might have diminished the need for acute hospitalisations caused by IPF.