Health care provider’s experiences, practices, and recommendations for interventions and screening of cystic fibrosis patients with disordered eating: A qualitative analysis

Objectives To investigate health care providers’ perspectives on their experiences and practices with cystic fibrosis patients exhibiting disordered eating behaviors and their recommendations for interventions and screening of this population. Methods Experienced health care providers (N = 17) were recruited from the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation listserv to participate in a semi-structured interview via phone. Two trained qualitative researchers independently coded audio-recorded interview scripts. Major themes were generated from questions inquiring health care providers’ perspectives on their experiences and practices with cystic fibrosis patients exhibiting disordered eating behaviors and their recommendations for better interventions and screening of disordered eating. Results The most prominent disordered eating behaviors observed by health care providers in cystic fibrosis patients were misusing pancreatic enzyme medication (53%), food restriction behaviors (47%), binge eating (29%), and skipping meals (29%). Over half (53%) of health care providers reported not having policies or procedures for disordered eating of cystic fibrosis patients. All health care providers thought it would be beneficial to have a cystic fibrosis-specific disordered eating screening tool. Recommendations by health care providers included developing a national standard protocol for cystic fibrosis disordered eating and educational training for health care providers. Discussion Ongoing development of evidence-based guidelines for screening and treating disordered eating among cystic fibrosis patients is warranted including development of a cystic fibrosis-specific disordered eating screening tool.