A survey assesing the impact of COVID-19 and
elexacaftor/tezacaftor/ifavacaftor on both physical and mental health in
persons with cystic fibrosis
Abstract
While our survey showed that PwCF felt that the COVID-19 pandemic had
impacted their mental health more than ETI therapy, around 9% of survey
responders felt that ETI did cause an increase in either anxiety or
depression. This finding was similar to the numbers Spoletini and
colleagues found in their adult clinic. They also found that a dose
reduction of ETI improved or resolved mental health adverse events for
most patients. [2] A recently published study by Guimbellot and
colleagues studied ivacaftor levels in PwCF who were on ivacaftor
monotherapy and showed many patients had levels higher than the
published minimum effective concentrations.[6] Thus, there may be a
correlation between ETI levels and mental health adverse events that
should be further explored in a prospective manner.