Abstract
ObjectiveBetter nutrition enhances lung function and increases survival for children with cystic fibrosis (CF). Therefore, we developed a standardized strategy to evaluate nutritional status and create individualized treatment plans to ensure that all patients received the same high-quality care in a busy CF Center. MethodsA quality improvement approach was undertaken to develop a novel nutrition classification strategy to identify and treat children with subtle manifestations of nutritional deficits in addition to those with obvious nutritional issues.ResultsDuring the 15-month study period, the median body mass index (BMI) percentile increased from 35.2 (0-95.9) to 42.0 (0-97.7), p <. 005. Additionally, the number of children with a BMI ≥ 50th percentile increased by 11.8%.ConclusionsAdoption of a standardized approach to nutritional assessment and treatment led to significant improvement in nutritional outcomes of CF patients, demonstrating that systematic changes in clinical practice can improve clinical outcomes substantially over a short period of time.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 6-13 |
Number of pages | 8 |
Journal | Journal of pediatric psychology |
Volume | 35 |
Issue number | 1 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - 2010 |
Keywords
- Cystic fibrosis
- Nutrition
- Quality improvement
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Pediatrics, Perinatology, and Child Health
- Developmental and Educational Psychology