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Summary Cystic fibrosis [CF] is a chronic disease in which preventative treatment with nebulised

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Summary
Cystic fibrosis [CF] is a chronic disease in which preventative treatment with nebulised antibiotics can reduce pulmonary exacerbations that otherwise require rescue therapy. However, adherence is low. Making adherence to maintenance treatment visible is a crucial step towards improving adherence. In this article, we discuss how adherence data can be used to support Quality
Improvement in CF through behaviour change in both people with cystic fibrosis and their clinical teams. Keywords: Adherence, Cystic Fibrosis, Telemedicine
The problem with treatment adherence in long-term conditions
Adherence to medication among patients with long-term conditions is a major problem. An estimated 30-50% of medicines are not taken as recommended …show more content…

Although the discrepancy between self-report and objective measurement is often interpreted as evidence of patient’s attempting to deceive clinicians on many occasions it will simply reflect difficulties in recall. Self-monitoring and feedback provide information to increase awareness of the target behaviour and are therefore important for good adherence.[6] With advances in technology, more self-monitoring gadgets are commercially available and self-monitoring is now increasingly popular. An example is the Quantified Self movement whereby interested users collaborate with tool makers to develop products for self-monitoring.[7]
The CF community is particularly well placed to make adherence visible using the principles of self-monitoring because of the close contact between people with CF (PWCF) and their CF centres – unlike other long-term conditions which are predominantly managed by general practitioners in the community, healthcare for PWCF are delivered almost exclusively via specialist
CF centres.[8] CF registries also exist at national and international level to coordinate CF-related data and help drive improvement.
Quality improvement and the impact of adherence visibility
Understanding the quality of care delivered by CF units is crucial. If we can measure the quality provided by the best units, we can understand what is possible. If we can build structures that routinely measure quality in all units, we

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