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Background Chronic Hypersensitivity Pneumonitis (CHP) is caused by an immune mediated response in the lung tissue after exposure to an inhaled environmental antigenic stimulant. We previously documented the ways in which CHP impacts patients’ lives and have now developed a disease-specific instrument, the CHP-HRQOL instrument, to measure health-related quality of life (HRQOL). The objective of this study was to assess content validity for the CHP-HRQOL. Methods Cognitive interviews were conducted among adults with CHP. The instrument was revised and refined between each round of interviews. Feedback was obtained on the instructions, items, response options, and recall period. Items where participants had difficulty with comprehension, wording, or misinterpretation were marked by the interviewer and participant feedback was reviewed to make revisions, add or delete items when appropriate. Readability statistics were calculated using Flesch-Kincaid grade level and reading ease scores. Results Ten participants were interviewed over three rounds, with revisions made to the questionnaire in an iterative process. In the initial 39 item instrument, we identified 7 items where two or more participants reported difficulty. Participants preferred a four-week recall period (compared to a two-week recall period) and response options with a 5-point response scale. The final version of the CHP-HRQOL includes 40 items with a median reading level between 6th and 7th grade. Conclusion The CHP-HRQOL instrument demonstrated high content validity and is ready for psychometric testing in further validation studies.

Purpose American Society of Anesthesiologists guidelines recommend the use of bronchoscopic intubation as a rescue technique in critically ill patients. We sought to assess the safety and efficacy of bronchoscopic intubation as an initial approach in critically ill patients. Methods We performed a retrospective cohort study of patients who underwent endotracheal intubation in the medical intensive care unit of a tertiary urban referral center over 1 academic year. The primary outcome was first-pass success rate. Measurements and main results We identified 219 patients who underwent either bronchoscopic (n = 52) or laryngoscopic guided (n = 167) intubation as the initial attempt. There was a higher first-pass success rate in the bronchoscopic intubation group than in the laryngoscopic group (96% vs 78%; P = .003). The bronchoscopic intubation group had a higher body mass index (28.4 vs 25.9; P = .027) and higher preintubation fraction of inspired oxygen requirement (0.73 ± 0.27 vs 0.63 ± 0.30; P = .044) than the laryngoscopic group. There were no cases of right mainstem intubation, esophageal intubation, or pneumothorax with bronchoscopic intubation. Rates of postintubation hypotension and hypoxemia were similar in both groups. The association with first-pass success remained with multivariate and propensity matched analysis. Conclusions Bronchoscopic intubation as an initial strategy in critically ill patients is associated with a higher first-pass success rate than laryngoscopic intubation, and is not associated with an increase in complications.

RationaleChronic hypersensitivity pneumonitis (CHP) is a distinct form of interstitial lung disease caused by an inhaled environmental antigen. Some patients with CHP develop progressive pulmonary fibrosis and varying degrees of symptom severity, with heterogeneous impact on functioning and overall well-being. There are no universally accepted diagnostic criteria, few FDA-approved (Food and Drug Administration) therapies and no standardised approach to identifying an antigen. The impact that living with CHP has on patients’ quality of life is understudied, preventing the identification of patient-centred research questions and endpoints for future CHP clinical trials.ObjectivesWe explored patients’ experiences, perceptions and expectations of living with CHP.MethodsWe conducted semistructured interviews with patients with CHP. Patients were recruited using a purposive heterogeneous sampling strategy. Interviews were audio recorded and transcribed verbatim. Data were analysed using the grounded theory method.ResultsEighteen patients were interviewed. Six major themes emerged from the interviews: (1) suffering due to lack of knowledge and uncertainty, (2) hypervigilance, (3) psychosocial, (4) physical impacts, (5) interpersonal and (6) self-perception and identity. The need to identify and avoid an antigen played a prominent role across the themes and subthemes.ConclusionsWe identified several key influences on quality of life in patients with CHP that have not been adequately explored. The prevalence of these influences should be quantified, and they should be included in quality of life assessment and should guide the development of targeted interventions to improve quality of life in this patient population.