Changes in exercise capacity, quality of life and fatigue in cancer patients during an intervention.
The study explored the interdependence of changes in oxygen uptake, quality of life and cancer-related side-effect fatigue during a 4-month exercise intervention. Participants were during adjuvant (curative) or palliative therapy and post-adjuvant therapy (finished within the previous 12 months). Aerobic exercise capacity (VO2 peak), quality of life and fatigue symptom (EORTC QLQ-C30) were obtained in 101 cancer patients (30-77 years). After initial examination, patients participated in supervised and/or home-based training interventions. Patients were re-examined after 16-20 weeks and stratified into 3 subgroups (terciles) with respect to the absolute change in VO2 peak. The ANCOVA, with significant covariate effect for pretest fatigue score (F(5,101) = 8.150, P < 0.001), indicated significant differences between groups in outcome measures (P < 0.001). Based on the absolute change of VO2 peak (1.9 ± 1.7; 1.8 ± 0.8; 5.7 ± 2.8 ml/kg/min) there were significant differences in the quality of life improvement (17.2 ± 15.1 vs. 4.8 ± 22.0 points, P < 0.05) and cancer-related fatigue reduction (-6.1 ± 30.7; -11.5 ± 20.9; -21.2 ± 21.4 points) between upper and lower tercile. The findings point towards a relationship of exercise capacity enhancement, quality of life improvement and fatigue symptom reduction during and shortly after cancer treatment.
Department of Sports Medicine, Goethe-University, Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
W
W
Banzer
M
M
Bernhörster
K
K
Schmidt
D
D
Niederer
A
A
Lungwitz
C
C
Thiel
E
E
Jäger
L
L
Vogt
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D017024:Chemotherapy, Adjuvant; D005081:Exercise Therapy / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005221:Fatigue / Q000209:etiology / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016014:Linear Models; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000150:complications / Q000534:rehabilitation* / Q000628:therapy; D010166:Palliative Care; D011788:Quality of Life; D016896:Treatment Outcome
cancer; cancer-related fatigue; exercise capacity; oxygen uptake; quality of life