ABSTRACT
Objectives: Research has shown that patients with CF and their families have an increased risk of anxiety and/or depression. This substudy, part of a multicentre observational trial, investigated the psychosocial impact of 6 months of treatment with Symkevi® in adult CF patients. Methods: The Cystic Fibrosis Questionnaire (CFQ-R), Patients Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) and General Anxiety Disorder Questionnaire (GAD-7) were completed at baseline and after 6 months of treatment with Symkevi®. Results: Of 42 subjects (median age: 29.3 years;28M/14F) included in the initial trial, 21 patients completed the CFQ-R and 25 patients completedthe GAD-7 and PHQ-9. The scores in the GAD-7 and PHQ-9 were not significantly different between baseline and 6 months (p = 0.55;p = 0.51, resp.). No significant differences were observed between the CFQ-R domains except for "social functioning." For this domain, the median scores improved from median 55.56% (IQR: 50.00%;73.61%) to 72.22% (IQR: 65.28%;83.33%) (p = 0.001). Patients with an increased social functioning also had an increased FEV1 after 6 months (p = 0.02). Conclusion: These findings indicate that 6 months of treatment with Symkevi® improves social functioning among adult CF patients.We did not see a difference in anxiety or depression. Further research is required to investigate whether longer treatment with Symkevi® will have an influence on anxiety and/or depression. In addition, the current results did not account for a possible impact of local COVID-19 restrictions