Sleep health in interstitial lung disease

Interstitial lung diseases (or ILD) are a group of chronic lung scarring diseases, which is the second leading cause of death due to chronic lung disease in Australia. People with ILD experience burdensome symptoms, including dyspnoea, fatigue, and poor health-related quality of life. Sleep disturbance is an important contributor to fatigue, which is more bothersome than breathlessness for many people with ILD. However, sleep disturbance is poorly understood in ILD with many potential contributing factors, including the underlying disease processes, concomitant comorbidities, and side effects of prescribed drugs. These are important unexplored areas of disease burden management in ILD with modifiable risks. This project will focus on the evaluation of sleep health in people with ILD, including a longitudinal study of sleep quality and the use of different wearable devices for objective sleep measurements. This project will provide opportunities for gaining skills and experiences in systematic review, qualitative and quantitative analysis methodologies, and publications.