Establishing mechanisms to conduct multi-institutional research--fatigue in patients with cancer: an exercise intervention.
OBJECTIVE
To describe the process of establishing a multi-institutional interdisciplinary team of oncology researchers and conducting a pilot study of an exercise intervention for fatigue.


METHODS
Project meeting minutes and records, research team members' logs, subjects' research records, the research study proposal, and team members' individual and collective shared experiences.


RESULTS
Site investigators established research teams at five academic medical centers. Fifty subjects were enrolled in the study and tested during their cancer treatment. Study methods, including instrumentation, were evaluated carefully and revised.


CONCLUSIONS
The multi-institutional network of researchers is an effective and efficient model for testing an intervention to manage fatigue during cancer treatment.


CONCLUSIONS
Exercise is a feasible and potentially beneficial intervention to combat distressing cancer treatment-related fatigue. A pilot study is essential to determine the best methods for conducting a clinical trial and to develop the teams of researchers necessary for such a project.
Mock
V
V
Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore, MD, USA.
Ropka
M E
ME
Rhodes
V A
VA
Pickett
M
M
Grimm
P M
PM
McDaniel
R
R
Lin
E M
EM
Allocca
P
P
Dienemann
J A
JA
Haisfield-Wolfe
M E
ME
Stewart
K J
KJ
McCorkle
R
R
D005081:Exercise Therapy / Q000592:standards*; D005221:Fatigue / Q000209:etiology* / Q000517:prevention & control*; D006801:Humans; D015337:Multicenter Studies as Topic / Q000379:methods*; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000150:complications*; D010348:Patient Care Team / Q000458:organization & administration*; D010865:Pilot Projects; D016730:Program Development; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic / Q000379:methods*