(278) Piloting and Evaluating the Impact of Specialist, Online Exercise Programs on Self-reported Measures of Health and Exercise Perceptions in Adults with Cystic Fibrosis

Thursday, November 3, 2022

12:00 PM – 12:40 PM ET

Presenting Author(s)

Pamela Scarborough, MSc Physiotherapy (she/her/hers)

Clinical Director
Beam (beamfeelgood.com)
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

Co-Author(s)

MB

Marissa Benchea

Community Engagement Manager
Thibodaux, Louisiana, United States
KB

Katie Bell

CEO, United States
MB

Melchiorre Bennardo

Head of Operations, United States

Background: The benefits of physical training on exercise capacity, pulmonary functioning and health-related quality of life for people with cystic fibrosis (CF) is well documented [1], meaning it is currently considered part of standard CF care to encourage a physically active lifestyle [2,3]. Covid-19 limited opportunities for people with CF to undergo structured exercise programs in hospital or at gyms/leisure centres. To address this, we launched 3 progressive, on-demand exercise programs on Beam (www.beamfeelgood.com) aimed at varying disease severity and baseline fitness levels. Each 12-session program was curated by a CF physiotherapist and designed to build strength and cardiovascular fitness as well improve CF symptom management and increase confidence to exercise. Participants were offered remote coaching to support completion of the program including email and text support, and joint workouts. Here, we look at the impact of this program on self-reported measures of health and exercise perceptions.

Methods: Adults with CF were invited via social media to participate in one of three Getting Started exercise programs on Beam (a specialist online exercise, education and well-being platform for the CF community). Participants self-selected the program that was most suited to them based on their disease severity and current fitness levels as outlined in Table 1. Participants were asked to complete pre- and post-program surveys evaluating their general health, emotional well-being, appetite and sleep, as well as motivation, enjoyment, confidence, time and limitations to exercise on a five-point scale.

Results: Between November 2021 and March 2022, 71 people signed up for a Getting Started program, 36 people completed a minimum of one class, and 16 people completed the entire 12-sessions in a program. Of the 16 people who completed a program, 75% felt more motivated, 68% felt fitter, 75% felt stronger and 65.5% were happier. 100% of people said their enjoyment of exercise was the same or more than before (37.5% saying they enjoyed it more) and 43.7% said they became more confident. No adverse events were reported.

Conclusions: This work suggests that CF-specific online exercise programs have the potential to increase strength and cardiovascular fitness levels as well as motivation, confidence and enjoyment to exercise in adults with CF; however it should be remembered that these outcomes were self-reported and a research trial to evaluate impact on clinical outcome measures is warranted. Additionally, further research and service development is required to improve the programs and increase activation and completion of the exercise programs with greater consideration to behaviour change interventions.

Acknowledgements: Beam is freely available to adults with CF in the USA thanks to the CF Foundation.

References: [1] Radtke T, Nevitt SJ, Hebestreit H, Kriemler S. Physical exercise training for cystic fibrosis. Cochrane Database Syst Rev 2017; 1:11:CD002768

[2] Swisher A, Hebestreit H, Mejia-Downs A, Lowman JD, Gruber W, Nippins M. Alison J, Schneiderman J. Exercise and habitual physical activity for people with cystic fibrosis: Expert consensus. Evidence-based guide for advising patients. 2015. Cardiopulmonary Physical Therapy Journal. 26(4):85-98, December 2015

[3] Rand S, Prasad SA. Exercise as part of a cystic fibrosis therapeutic routine. Expert Rev Respir Med 2012; 6:341-352