Eight-year follow-up of pulmonary function and oxygen uptake during exercise in 16-year-old males with cystic fibrosis

Eight of nine Norwegian 16-year-old males with cystic fibrosis, and six age-matched, physically active controls were included in an eight-year follow-up study, involving pulmonary and bicycle exercise testing. The individual's level of regular physical exercise was registered, and we investigated whether or not this could be correlated to changes in clinical status, lung function and maximal oxygen uptake. Four males with cystic fibrosis trained regularly for 4-7 h weekly, while the other four patients did no regular exercise. Three of the latter died during the study, and the fourth male in the non-training group deteriorated significantly during the study period of eight years. The four males in the training group showed improvement in lung function parameters and maximal oxygen uptake, but two of them had more marked obstructive lung disease after the age of 24 years. Even though the sample was small, and several other factors may influence the results, the study indicates that regular physical exercise has beneficial long-term effects on clinical status, lung function and physical fitness in adolescent cystic fibrosis males.