title: An exercise intervention for advanced cancer patients experiencing fatigue: a pilot study.
abstract: Fatigue is reported by advanced cancer patients to be their most prevalent and distressing symptom. Despite this, few interventions have been developed and tested to manage this debilitating symptom. This paper describes a pilot study undertaken to test the effects of a 28-day exercise intervention on levels of fatigue in advanced cancer patients. All participants were able to increase their activity levels with no increase in reported fatigue. Furthermore, a trend was noted in all patients toward increased quality of life scores and decreased anxiety scores. All participants described a sense of satisfaction in attaining increased activity levels. These preliminary pilot results suggest that patients who initially report the highest levels of fatigue may achieve the largest decrease in fatigue scores. These findings provide support for the suitability of this intervention for the palliative care population and justify the importance of further hypothesis testing.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Cancer Care Studies, School of Nursing, University of Hull, UK.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Porock
authors.forename: L J
authors.initials: LJ
authors.lastname: Kristjanson
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Tinnelly
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Duke
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Blight
mesh_terms: D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000368:Aged; D001007:Anxiety / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology / Q000517:prevention & control; D005081:Exercise Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D005221:Fatigue / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology* / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D017051:Hospice Care / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000150:complications*; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D010865:Pilot Projects; D011788:Quality of Life; D012720:Severity of Illness Index