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CF

Question
I am an ex UU physio graduate presently working in an acute hospital in Suffolk. I am treating a teenager with Cystic Fibrosis. The patient has reached the stage where they have become quite depressed about their life expectancy and the limitations they think it may have on their life and now resisting physio. The patient's lung functions have deteriorated a little, however, not as much as the patient perceives. I think it would be beneficial to have an objective outcome measure for the patient in an exercise environment, not just facts on a graph. I remember when I was at UU you were working on the Modified Shuttle Test for this patient group! I was wondering where I could gain a copy of this and the supporting information for it?

Any guidance you could give would be very much appreciated!

Kind regards

Serena
Answer
Dear Serenap,

Thank you for your question. You can get a copy of the Modified Shuttle Walk Test (MSWT) from Sally Singh (sally.singh@uhl-tr.nhs.uk) at Leicester University Hospital.

The type of exercise test you use very much depends on what you want to use it for,
Laboratory based exercise testing using cycle or treadmill tests which also include respiratory gas analysis remain the gold standard. However these aren’t always the most practical in a clinical setting and many patients with cystic fibrosis (CF) are reluctant to perform such tests on a routine basis as they find them exhausting.

The modified shuttle walk test (MSWT) is a field test which is used in CF. It is a form of incremental exercise testing and has been shown to have good reliability and relate well to laboratory exercise testing in patients with varying disease severities. The MSWT will enable you to assess the exercise tolerance of a person with CF. It will also allows for a prescription of exercise to be developed and tailored to the needs of the individual, providing for example an optimal training heart rate or optimal exercise speed for training on a treadmill. It can also useful in the evaluation of new and existing treatments in patients with CF.

There are other field exercise tests used in CF such as the six minute walk test which is an endurance exercise test and is very much an effort dependant exercise test. There is also the 3 minute step test which is more commonly associated with measuring the level of desaturation of SaO2 in patients. However these exercise tests may be less appropriate for developing a suitable prescription of exercise.

I hope this information helps

Best wishes

Judy Bradley









01.08.2008