The role of health beliefs in predicting lifestyle choices within CF
Research type
Research Study
Full title
The role of health beliefs in predicting and explaining smoking behaviour in Cystic Fibrosis.
IRAS ID
161497
Contact name
Rebecca C Keyte
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
HEFT (Heart of England NHS Foundation Trust)
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 8 months, 15 days
Research summary
Research indicates that despite the respiratory difficulties associated with CF, active smoking is prevalent within CF. Despite statistics indicating that the number of CF patients who smoke is less than the general population, it is feared that with the improved life expectancy within CF (and their improved health status), that this risky behaviour may increase.
Smoking decreases the lung function of CF patients, with their FEV1 scores being reduced by 4% for every 10 cigarettes they smoke, and their FVC scores being reduced by 3% for every 10 cigarettes they smoke. This is a dose-dependent relationship between the number of cigarettes smoked and the severity of the disease within CF; with smoking increasing the occurrence of the patient requiring intravenous antibiotics to treat exacerbation's of their lung disease.
Therefore more effective health promotion measures are needed to prevent this behaviour. This research will conduct semi-structured interviews on CF patients who smoke, to investigate what causes CF patients to smoke, in order to aid the development of interventions to reduce the occurrence of smoking. There is a lack of research indicating what predicts smoking within the CF population. Smoking within the UK is a normalised behaviour, which CF patients may engage in to retaliate against the illness identity that CF gives a patient.
Another possible predictor of smoking within CF is coping strategies. Research indicates that CF patients who use optimism as a coping strategy have a higher quality of life in comparison to patients who use distraction. However this may be unrealistic optimism leading to patients having biased health perceptions, meaning they underestimate the severity of their lung disease, potentially creating the belief that they can smoke (a behaviour that is normalised within the general population).
REC name
East Midlands - Leicester Central Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
14/EM/1183
Date of REC Opinion
17 Feb 2015
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion