Effect of Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation Stretching with Pulmonary Rehabilitation in Patients with Interstitial Lung Disease

This prospective, randomized controlled trial will evaluate whether adding Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation stretching to conventional pulmonary rehabilitation improves clinical outcomes compared to pulmonary rehabilitation alone in patients with Interstitial Lung Disease. A total of 40 clinically stable adult patients with Interstitial Lung Disease will be randomly allocated into two groups. Both groups will receive supervised pulmonary rehabilitation three times per week for six weeks. The experimental group will receive additional Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation stretching targeting respiratory and postural muscles during the rehabilitation sessions, while the control group will receive pulmonary rehabilitation alone. Baseline assessments will include pulmonary function parameters, thoracic expansion, exercise capacity, dyspnea severity, and health-related quality of life will be collected one day before intervention and post intervention assessments will be conducted after completion of 18 sessions using standardised outcome measures.