Real-life experience with high-frequency chest wall oscillation vest therapy in adults with non-cystic fibrosis bronchiectasis

Background:High frequency chest wall oscillation (HFCWO) has long been used for airway clearance for patients with cystic fibrosis. Only limited research has evaluated this therapy in adult patients with non-cystic fibrosis bronchiectasis (NCFB).Methods:Data from 2596 patients from a registry of adult bronchiectasis patients using HFCWO therapy was used to evaluate hospitalization patterns before and after initiation of HFCWO therapy, as well as antibiotic use and self-reported metrics of quality of life. Self-reported outcomes were also reviewed by cross-checking with sampled patient charts and found to be consistent.Results:The number of patients who had at least one respiratory-related hospitalization decreased from 49.1% (192/391) in the year before to 24.0% (94/391) in the year after starting HFCWO therapy (p-value p p p Conclusion:NCFB patients showed improved self-reported outcomes associated with the initiation of HFCWO therapy as measured by number of hospitalizations, antibiotic use, and the subjective experience of airway clearance. The improvement was observed early on after initiation of therapy and sustained for at least 1 year.The reviews of this paper are available via the supplemental material section.