WS09.4 The role of resilience in quality of life of adult patients with cystic fibrosis (CF)

Abstract

Objectives Although several psychological studies on coping and quality of life suggested high levels of resilience in CF patients, empirical data on resilience in CF are barely existent. Thus, the purpose of the study was to investigate resilience in adult CF patients and its impact on quality of life. Methods 57 adult CF patients (18–59 years) participated in the study at their routine medical check-up. In addition to their regular psychological assessment including the Cystic Fibrosis Questionnaire – Revised (CFQ-R), the Resilience Scale (RS) was administered. The constructs were also correlated with physical parameters (age, gender and lung function). Results Patients reported high levels of resilience and overall good quality of life in all domains. Patient's resilience was significantly higher compared to the large healthy reference group (t[2086] = 4.7510, p=0.0001) and was independent of gender (t[55] = 0.826, p=0.412), age (r = 0.076, p=0.573) and lung function (FEV1%, r=0.165, p=0.220). Significant associations between resilience and CFQ-R domains could be confirmed. Conclusion Our study is one of the first attempts to explicitely test resilience in CF patients and could demonstrate high levels of resilience in these patient group and positive correlations with quality of life. These results suggest that resilience could be seen as an important factor on quality of life and coping with CF. Therefore fostering resilience early in patient's life should be encouraged.