Samya Salah

and 4 more

Objective: To assess the quality of life (QoL) of Cystic fibrosis (CF) patients in West Bank, Palestine using the Cystic Fibrosis Questionnaire-Revised (CFQ-R) form. Method: A cross-sectional study involving application of CFQ-R questionnaire in CF patients attending pediatric pulmonology clinic at Caritas Baby Hospital (CBH). Their health status was assessed by measuring different parameters including pulmonary function test (FEV1) and body mass index (BMI). Results: The sample consisted of 77 patients from 58 families: 46.75% were males. Mean age was 10.7 years. Patients were divided into three groups by age in years: group I (< 6), II (6-13), and III (≥ 14). The highest and lowest CFQ scores were for the eat domain in group III (55.56 ± 22.49) and the body domain in group II (14.48 ± 17.67), respectively. Illness severity as measured by FEV1 mean value 69.6. BMI mean value of 15.998. The overall mean age at time of diagnosis in our sample was 4.16 years (± 6.239). The study showed that 1.7% of families had four affected siblings and 21% had death cases related to CF. Finally, all parameters for CF patients in West Bank, Palestine appear to be noticeably lower than those reported in other countries. Conclusions: quality of life for patients with CF is poor relative to international standards, the medications used including hypertonic saline and Gentamycin IV form used as nebulizer solution are not first line therapies around the world. This study illustrates the need of new therapies for CF patients in Palestine.