Does current reporting of lung function by the UK cystic fibrosis registry allow a fair comparison of adult centres?

ABSTRACT:

Background

Outcome data for UK cystic fibrosis centres are publicly available in an annual report, which ranks centres by median FEV₁% predicted. We wished to assess whether there are differences in lung function outcomes between adult centres that might imply differing standards of care.

Methods

UK Registry data from 4761 subjects at 34 anonymised adult centres were used to calculate mean FEV₁% and rate of change of lung function for 2007-13. These measures were used to rank centres and compare outcomes.

Results

There are minor differences between centres for mean FEV₁% for some years of the study and for rate of change of lung function over the study period. However, rankings are critically dependent on the outcome measure chosen and

SUBMITTER: Nightingale JA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5581542 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature