148 A service evaluation of a structured walking programme for cystic fibrosis patients

Abstract

Objectives: The importance of physical activity in CF is well recognised and has positive benefits to health and quality of life. However the uptake of exercise is often disappointing with many barriers identified. Many issues can be addressed by offering out-patient exercise programmes to patients, but distance or fatigue from travelling to the CF centre may prohibit some patients from attending such sessions. This case study evaluated the use of video-conferencing to deliver a weekly exercise programme to a patient unable to regularly attend. Methods: A 41 year old female patient with an FEV1 of 40% and a six minute walk test result of 620 metres previously participated in regular exercise. However, due to recurrent episodes of haemoptysis over a six month period, she lost confidence and no longer exercised with a resulting fall in exercise tolerance. As distance precluded her from attending the CF centre for regular supervised exercise sessions, a secure video-conferencing system was used to deliver weekly exercise sessions. 12 weekly sessions were delivered over a 3 month period. Each session commenced with an assessment of the patient’s signs and symptoms and the session adjusted accordingly. Results: The patient felt the level of supervision offered by the videoconferencing was essential to enable her to exercise effectively and saw significant improvements to her reported exercise tolerance. She reported improved confidence and motivation to continue with exercise. Conclusion: Video-conferencing can successfully be used to deliver supervised exercise to patients who live in remote locations or who are fatigued by travelling to the CF centre.