Psychosocial impact of 6 months of treatment with Symkevi® among adult cystic fibrosis patients

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 completed
Poster S134 Sessions / Journal of Cystic Fibrosis 21S1 (2022) S61–S140
the 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.