Cystic Fibrosis Foundation reports upward trend for key healt...( (Bethesda MD) -- The Cystic Fibrosis...),Health

(Bethesda, MD) -- The Cystic Fibrosis Foundation reported today that key indicators of health for people with cystic fibrosis -- including lung function and nutritional status -- are rising nationwide across its accredited care center network.

In fact, the outlook for people with CF continues to improve steadily each year -- and this progress is accelerating due to quality improvement programs spearheaded by the CF Foundation. The National Institutes of Health has recognized the Foundation's care center network as a model for delivering care for a chronic disease.

"Across the country, we are seeing great care for cystic fibrosis get even better," said Bruce C. Marshall, M.D., vice president of clinical affairs for the CF Foundation, who leads the quality improvement initiative.

The new data is posted on the CF Foundation's Web site (www.cff.org) under "Care Center Network." It includes four measures vital for the health of people with CF: lung function, nutritional status (body mass index), screening for CF-related diabetes, and adherence to recommended outpatient clinic visits and tests.

In December 2006, the CF Foundation was one of the first organizations of its kind to publicly release health outcomes data in an effort to accelerate the rate of improvement in care. Going forward, data will be updated annually, allowing people with CF to track progress at their individual care centers.

"It's rewarding to see our investments in quality improvement yielding results, and at the same time, complementing our intensive efforts to develop new therapies to raise the bar even higher," said Robert J. Beall, Ph.D., president and CEO of the CF Foundation.

The 2006 data shows gains across the board. Highlights include:

• Significant improvement in the nutritional status of children, ranked by body mass index (BMI). In fact, median BMI rose from the 38th percentile to
  '/>"/>