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European Cystic Fibrosis Society
11
Living longer with Cystic Fibrosis
CHANGING EPIDEMIOLOGY: NEW CHALLENGES IN CF
CHAPTER 1
lation is aged over 30 years and 6% are over
40 years. However, there is significant vari-
ation between sociodemographic regions,
presumably reflecting issues such as access
to care, delayed diagnosis, resources and
health policies. A cross-sectional analysis
of the ECFSPR highlighted this by reporting
some important demographic differences
across Europe [7]. The median age of
patients from European Union (EU) coun-
tries was 4.9 years higher than non-EU
countries, and the proportion of patients
aged at least 40 years was also higher for
EU countries (5% vs. 2%). Importantly,
when demographic indicators of EU coun-
tries were modelled on non-EU countries,
it was estimated that their CF population
would rise by 84%, underlining the startling
potential impact that sociodemographic
factors can have on survival. In the UK, it has
been estimated that the adult CF population
will grow by approximately 145 patients per
annum [8]. As this equates to a moderately
sized adult clinic, this has important impli-
cations, not only to the patient, but also to
future healthcare provision and staff training.
Fig. 2
Cross-sectional data of patient age in Europe, 2010. (Reproduced with permission
from European Cystic Fibrosis Society [6].)
Each blue vertical bar represents the number of patience of that age alieve in 2010. The
culmulative percentage (blue line, right vertical axis) describes how many patients (as a
percentage) are below a certain age (e.g. 50% of the patience are less than 18 years of age).