Effect of Chest Physiotherapy on Quality of Life, Exercise Capacity and Pulmonary Function in Patients with Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis Martín-Núñez, Javier Heredia Ciuró, Alejandro López López, Laura Calvache Mateo, Andrés Hernández Hernández, Sofía Valenza Peña, Geraldine Valenza, Marie Carmen Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis Chest physiotherapy Quality of life Background: Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is one of the most deleterious diseases of the pulmonary fibrosis spectrum. Its clinical presentation includes irreversible loss of lung function, and increasing cough, dyspnea and impaired quality of life. Chest physiotherapy can improve ventilation capacity, gas exchange, dyspnea, exercise capacity and quality of life. The aim of this study was to review the evidence about chest physiotherapy in IPF, specifically meta-analyzing quality of life, exercise capacity and pulmonary function. Methods: A wide search was conducted in PubMed, Embase, Cochrane and Web of Science for articles included until October 2023. PROSPERO Identifier: CRD42022333496. The Downs and Black scale and the Cochrane tool were employed to evaluate quality assessments and to assess the risk of bias. Data were pooled, and a meta-analysis was conducted. Results: We selected 10 studies in which a chest physiotherapy program was performed with a total of 340 patients; of these, three articles were meta-analyzed. Significant effects in favor of chest physiotherapy were found for quality of life (MD = -8.60, 95% CI = -11.30, -5.90; p < 0.00001; I2 = 24%), exercise capacity (MD = 37.62, 95% CI = 15.10, 60.13; p = 0.001; I2 = 65%) and pulmonary function (MD = 7.86, 95% CI = 2.54, 13.17; p = 0.004; I2 = 80%). Conclusions: The systematic review showed significant results for the application of chest physiotherapy regarding pulmonary capacity, diffusion of gases and quality of life in IPF patients. The meta-analysis showed a significant improvement associated with applying chest physiotherapy in pulmonary function, exercise capacity and quality of life. 2024-09-20T11:01:36Z 2024-09-20T11:01:36Z 2023-11-08 journal article Martín-Núñez, J.; Heredia-Ciuró, A.; López-López, L.; Calvache-Mateo, A.; Hernández- Hernández, S.; Valenza-Peña, G.; Valenza, M.C. Effect of Chest Physiotherapy on Quality of Life, Exercise Capacity and Pulmonary Function in Patients with Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Healthcare 2023, 11, 2925. https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare11222925 https://hdl.handle.net/10481/94782 10.3390/healthcare11222925 eng http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ open access Atribución 4.0 Internacional MDPI