Browse by author
Lookup NU author(s): Professor Anthony De SoyzaORCiD
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).
© The authors 2023.Background and objective There are limited data on airway clearance treatment (ACT) practices. This study aimed to: 1) assess the feasibility of collecting online surveys on ACTs from patients and physiotherapists and linking the patient survey data to outcome data in the Bronch-UK/EMBARC Registry; 2) assess the association between ACT practices and outcome data; and 3) ascertain the factors affecting physiotherapist ACT practices. Methods Survey methodology was used to collect data from patients with bronchiectasis and physiotherapists in Northern Ireland. Associations between patient survey data and linked Bronch-UK/ EMBARC Registry patient outcome data were explored. Results It was feasible to conduct an online survey with patients with bronchiectasis and link the data to the Bronch-UK/EMBARC Registry. 13% of patients did not perform ACTs. ACTs were used more often by patients who were symptomatic/had more severe disease compared to those with milder symptoms/ disease. Patients used ACTs when they were symptomatic rather than as a preventative management strategy. Physiotherapists generally followed the bronchiectasis guidelines, using the stepwise approach to management. Conclusion Our survey provided information about the feasibility of linking online survey and patient registry data. This study provides up-to-date information on ACT practice throughout the course of the disease trajectory as well as insight into the implementation of bronchiectasis guidelines by physiotherapists. Future work should explore how to optimise ACT data collection to maximise the use of real-world ACT data in bronchiectasis research and inform priority ACT research questions.
Author(s): McLeese RH, O'Neill K, O'Neill B, Chalmers JD, Boyd J, De Soyza A, McChrystal R, Crichton ML, Bradley JM
Publication type: Article
Publication status: Published
Journal: ERJ Open Research
Year: 2023
Volume: 9
Issue: 2
Print publication date: 01/03/2023
Online publication date: 20/03/2023
Acceptance date: 21/11/2022
Date deposited: 17/04/2023
ISSN (electronic): 2312-0541
Publisher: European Respiratory Society
URL: https://doi.org/10.1183/23120541.00540-2022
DOI: 10.1183/23120541.00540-2022
Altmetrics provided by Altmetric
