Abstract

Author(s): Freire Salviano, Andressa1; Nogueira Barreira, Francisca Eneida2; De Castro e Silva, Cláudia2; De Almeida, Paulo César1; Do Nascimento de Oliveira, Valzimeire1

Introduction: In adolescents with cystic fibrosis the biopsychosocial changes characteristic of phase added to characteristics of the disease can to interfere potentially in the adherence to dietary treatment and in the nutritional status.

Objective: To identify difficulties in adherence to dietary treatment and nutritional status in adolescents with cystic fibrosis accompanied at the reference center of Ceará.

Methods: Data collection was between January and April 2016. Adolescents reported difficulties they encountered in diet follow-up and degree of adherence self-referenced to follow nutritional guidelines. The nutritional status was diagnosed according to Body Mass Index for Age - BMI / I and Corrected Arm Muscle Area - CAMa.

Results: Twenty adolescents were evaluated, with a mean age of 14.1 + 3.1 years. The difficulties identified in the adherence were related to characteristics of the diet, to intrapersonal and physiological aspects of the disease and to psychosocial aspects. Most adolescents (80%) reported following at least 50% of dietary guidelines. Regarding nutritional status, 50% and 70% of the patients presented nutritional deficits according to the BMI / I and CAMa, respectively.

Discussion: The literature on adherence to cystic fibrosis treatment shows that diet is one of the items with lower adherence, corroborating with he findings in this study.

Conclusion: Adolescents present difficulties in treatment adherence and a high percentage of nutritional déficit. Nutritional education in creating strategies for improving this situation is suggested.