Quality of Life in Cystic Fibrosis Intravenous Antibiotic Patients

  • Research type

    Research Study

  • Full title

    Measuring Quality of Life in patients with Cystic Fibrosis undergoing routine intravenous antibiotic treatment

  • IRAS ID

    199911

  • Contact name

    anne Gowing

  • Contact email

    anne.gowing@nhs.net

  • Sponsor organisation

    Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust

  • Duration of Study in the UK

    1 years, 0 months, 1 days

  • Research summary

    People with Cystic Fibrosis (CF) frequently receive Intravenous (IV) antibiotic treatment to limit the damage caused by bacterial infections. Patients may have either a course of treatment as an inpatient or, with the appropriate training, in their own home.

    The proposed research will examine Quality of Life (QoL) before and after receiving IV antibiotic treatment to determine whether Quality of Life improves after treatment. The study will use Patient Reported Outcome Measures (PROMs), which are becoming more common in assessing the impact of various treatments. Specifically, these would be two short questionnaires: the Cystic Fibrosis Questionnaire Revised (CFQ-R) and the Euro Quality of Life Questionnaire (EQ-5D).

    This study will be led by the Regional Paediatric CF Unit (LRPCFU), within both the Centre in Leeds and its associated Network Clinics (Bradford, York, and Calderdale). Paediatric CF patients and their parents attending any of these clinics will be asked to complete the two QoL questionnaires before and after receiving IV antibiotic treatment. Health data that is routinely collected at outpatient appointments - including weight, lung function, and illness symptoms - will also be compared to the QoL data to see whether there are any associations.

    We would also ask patients to complete the Beliefs about Treatment Questionnaire. This examines a patient’s/parent’s belief about their/their child’s medicines, and specifically focuses on beliefs about necessity (are the medicines needed?) and beliefs about concerns (do the medicines cause worry?). This would allow us to determine potential associations between a patient’s reported QoL post-treatment and their/their parent’s beliefs about the necessity of, versus their concerns about, IV antibiotics.

    Finally, we would compare the questionnaire responses of IV inpatients versus home-IV patients. This would allow us to explore potentially significant differences in reported Quality of Life between those who receive IV treatment in hospital and those who receive treatment whilst at home.

    Whilst the rationale for the research is to inform practice within Leeds Regional Paediatric CF Unit, it may produce conclusions that are relevant to the CF population as a whole. Sharing of this research more widely (e.g. conference presentations, journal publications) will therefore be considered.

  • REC name

    London - Brighton & Sussex Research Ethics Committee

  • REC reference

    17/LO/0146

  • Date of REC Opinion

    23 Feb 2017

  • REC opinion

    Further Information Favourable Opinion