In two consecutive years, patients with cystic fibrosis were studied at the beginning and end of a nine-day summer camp program to assess the program's effects on weight gain and pulmonary function. The camp experience includes daily exercise and a high-protein and high-fat diet. There were a total of 58 children between 6 and 12 years of age (42 different patients) and 10 adult counselors from 19 to 30 years of age (eight different patients). On the first and eighth days patients were weighed, sputum cultures were collected, and spirometry was performed. In year 2, peak expiratory flow rate was monitored daily. Also in year 2, campers and counselors with CF were prescreened by sputum culture and excluded from camp if they had Pseudomonas cepacia in their sputum. Only one candidate screened was positive before camp. In year 1, no significant group changes in pulmonary function were identified. In year 2, significant increases on post-camp testing were found for FEF 25%-75% and PEF. Mean body weight for all patients increased significantly, by 0.4 kg in year 1 and 0.9 kg in year 2 (p less than .05). In year 1, a total of nine patients acquired a new organism in their follow-up sputum culture, including five who acquired a new Pseudomonas species. There was no intra-cabin pattern of spread. Four patients were positive for P. cepacia on day 1 culture. No new subjects acquired this organism on follow-up examination. In year 2, only one subject had P. cepacia on the first camp collection; he alone was positive on day 9.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
A survey of 47 cystic fibrosis referral centers was conducted to study the use of exercise in the management of patients with cystic fibrosis (CF). A questionnaire with 5 brief questions concerning the prescription and application of exercise therapy was sent to the first 47 centers (38.5%) listed in the 1988 CF Foundation Directory, and 46 (97.9%) were returned. While all but one of the respondents recommend exercise at least to selected patients, and while 80.4% of the centers refer patients to summer camp programs, only 43.5% offer exercise stress testing and only 21.7% offer an exercise program for their patients. Most of the respondents who recommend exercise prescribe aerobic exercise, swimming being the most frequently chosen type. Although there is a large discrepancy between those centers that acknowledge the benefits of exercise and those that have arranged for regularly available exercise services, inroads have been made in utilizing this therapeutic tool for patients with CF.
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