Cystic Fibrosis Patients' Views and Beliefs About Chest Clearance and Exercise — A pilot study

• Published in: Physiotherapy Vol. 82; no. 11; pp. 621 - 627
• Main Authors: Carr, L, Smith, RE, Pryor, JA, Partridge, C
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Elsevier Ltd 01.11.1996; Chartered Society of Physiotherapy
• Subjects: adherence; Biological and medical sciences; Cystic fibrosis; Medical sciences; Nephrology. Urinary tract diseases; opinions; physiotherapy; Tumors of the urinary system; Urinary tract. Prostate gland; Cystic fibrosis; opinions; adherence; physiotherapy; Human; Urinary system disease; Questionnaire; Treatment efficiency; Physiotherapy; Respiratory frequency; Treatment compliance; Technique; Woman; Cystitis
• ISSN: 0031-9406; 1873-1465
• DOI: 10.1016/S0031-9406(05)66334-1

Understanding the health beliefs related to reasons for adherence and non-adherence to a physiotherapy programme is important in planning an effective chest clearance programme for a person with cystic fibrosis. A pilot questionnaire was undertaken with 96 adults with cystic fibrosis randomly selected from patients on a hospital register. Response rate was 54%. It was not possible to obtain information from non-responders. Patients reported the treatment techniques they used. A combination of deep breaths, gentle breathing and huffing (active cycle of breathing techniques) were the most commonly used techniques to clear secretions (42/50). Almost half of the patients said that they would not prefer help with their chest physiotherapy at home, indicating that they would rather undertake it themselves. More than three-quarters of the patients who answered this question felt physiotherapy was either ‘very helpful’ or ‘helpful’ when well (40/49). There was unanimous agreement that physiotherapy was ‘very helpful’ or ‘helpful’ when unwell. More than three-quarters of the patients agreed or strongly agreed that doing physiotherapy was important to their feelings of well being (42/50) and stopped their chest deteriorating (45/50). The three most common themes for not doing chest physiotherapy identified from the open questions were ‘feel very well’, ‘too tired’ and ‘not enough time’. The most important themes identified as to why patients did chest physiotherapy included ‘makes my chest clearer’, ‘feel better afterwards’, ‘lessens my risk of infection’ and ‘stops me from coughing’.