Systemic sclerosis & Raynaud's
The Effect of Pulmonary Function Test Reference Equations on Classification of Restrictive Lung Disease Severity in Systemic Sclerosis
Authors' conclusion
The use of race-specific PFT reference equations may result in systematic misclassification of ILD severity with potential impact on health care delivery and clinical trial eligibility.
Study context
- Population
- Black and White patients with Systemic Sclerosis (SSc) in the Johns Hopkins Scleroderma Center Research Registry
- Participants
- 641 vs 2,909
- Exposure
- Race-neutral vs race-specific PFT reference equations
- Blackn = 641
- Whiten = 2,909
- Outcome
- Percentage switching RLD severity category (by baseline ppFVC) with race-neutral vs race-specific equations
- Follow-up
- Baseline
Methodological detailsregistry-based, single-centre
- Registry-based
- Single-centre
Main finding
As reported in the abstract
Reclassification of RLD severity, GLI Global vs GLI 2012
Black
Forty-seven percent
303 of 641
White
17%
487 of 2,909
Observational data: associations, not effects.
Further findings
Absolute FVC
- Black individuals had lower absolute FVC values than White individuals
Meeting percent predicted forced vital capacity (ppFVC) thresholds for immunosuppression, clinical trial eligibility and lung transplant referral
- Statistically greater proportions of Black individuals met thresholds with race-neutral vs race-specific equations
Original publication
The Effect of Pulmonary Function Test Reference Equations on Classification of Restrictive Lung Disease Severity in Systemic Sclerosis. Arthritis Care Res (Hoboken). Published 10 December 2025. doi:10.
Composed by AI from the published abstract and checked against it. How Briefs are made →