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Pulmonary rehab for CF patients

Question
Can you send me the latest guidelines or focused reviews on pulmonary rehab and CF Patients? Or just plain pediatric pulmonary rehabilitation.....

Answer
Dear Questioner
I have a few key references that we, as clinicians working in CF would refer to ourselves (please see the reference list below).

There is also a recent initiative that the European Cystic Fibrosis Society is working on (www.ecfs.eu/ecfs_exercise_wg). The ECFS Exercise Working Group is currently evaluating exercise and physical activity assessments and interventions with the intention of providing evidence based guidelines to clinicians working in CF. The output of this international collaborative group’s work is expected within the next year.

It would be worth noting that pulmonary rehabilitation in the traditional sense (group based exercise and education), would not be recommended for individuals with CF. This is due to the strict infection control guidelines in place in many countries to reduce patient to patient transmission of pathogens. In Northern Ireland we are able to refer people with CF to a “HealthWise” scheme. This allows them to access a free 12-week community based exercise programme. Other countries may have similar programmes.

I would suggest contacting the local health care authorities to check what is available in your area.

Hope this is of some help. Please feel free to write back if you have any further queries.

Best wishes
Lisa Kent and Katherine Lavery
Physiotherapists, Belfast

Reference list:
CF Trust. Standards of Care and Good Clinical Practice for the Physiotherapy Management of Cystic Fibrosis. Second edition. June 2011. https://www.cysticfibrosis.org.uk/media/82076/CD_Standards_of_Care_Physio_Jun_11.pdf

International Physiotherapy Group for Cystic Fibrosis Physiotherapy for people with Cystic Fibrosis: from infant to adult.
www.ecfs.eu/files/webfm/webfiles/File/Physiotherapy%20WebPages/blue%20booklet%202009%20website%20version%20+1.pdf

Bradley JM, Moran F. Physical training for cystic fibrosis. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2008, Issue 1. Art. No.: CD002768. DOI: 10.1002/14651858.CD002768.pub2.
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/14651858.CD002768.pub2/abstract

Section 3.5: in....
Travelling with cystic fibrosis: Recommendations for patients and care. T.O. Hirche, J. Bradley, D. d'Alquen, K. De Boeck, B. Dembski, J.S. Elborn, W. Gleiber, C. Lais, A. Malfroot, T.O.F. Wagner,
on behalf of the European Centres of Reference Network for Cystic Fibrosis (ECORN-CF). Journal of Cystic Fibrosis 9 (2010) 385–399
www.ecfs.eu/files/webfm/webfiles/File/documents/JCF%20Articles/JCF_619.pdf
29.07.2013
The answer is edited by: PhD Lisa Kent