title: Upper extremity bioimpedance before and after treadmill testing in women post breast cancer treatment.
abstract: Research on the effect of cardiorespiratory (CR) exercise on upper extremity (UE) limb volume is limited in women with breast cancer-related lymphedema (BCRL). The aim of this study was to compare changes in UE volume immediately following a symptom-limited CR treadmill test in women with and without BCRL. As part of a cross-sectional study, 133 women post unilateral BC treatment completed symptom-limited treadmill testing. Bioimpedance spectroscopy (BIS) was used to measure UE resistance before and immediately following treadmill testing. Resistance ratios >1 (unaffected side/affected side) indicate greater volume in the affected limb. T-tests and repeated measures ANOVA were performed to evaluate differences between and within groups. Mean age was 56.2 years (SD 9.4); BMI was 26.13 kg m(-2) (SD 5.04). For women with previously diagnosed BCRL (n = 63), the resistance ratio was 1.116 (SD 0.160) pre-treadmill and 1.108 (SD 0.155) post-treadmill. For women without BCRL (n = 70), the resistance ratio was 0.990 (SD 0.041) pre-treadmill and 1.001 (SD 0.044) post-treadmill. Resistance ratios for women with BCRL were higher than those for women without BCRL at both time points (main effect of group: p < 0.001). No main effects were found for time (p = 0.695). A statistically significant effect was found for the time-by-group interaction (p = 0.002). 78% of the women with BCRL wore a compression garment during testing. Following testing, the women with BCRL demonstrated a non-statistically significant decrease in the resistance ratio, suggesting an immediate decrease in interlimb volume difference. The women without BCRL demonstrated an increase in the resistance ratio.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Science, Graduate Program in Physical Therapy, University of California, San Francisco State University, Box 0736, San Francisco, CA, 94143, USA, betty.smoot@ucsf.edu.
authors.forename: Betty
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Smoot
authors.forename: Sarah
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Zerzan
authors.forename: Joanne
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Krasnoff
authors.forename: Josephine
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wong
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Cho
authors.forename: Marylin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Dodd
mesh_terms: D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000150:complications* / Q000473:pathology / Q000534:rehabilitation* / Q000628:therapy; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D017097:Electric Impedance; D015444:Exercise; D005080:Exercise Test; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008209:Lymphedema / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D011379:Prognosis; D017741:Survivors; D034941:Upper Extremity / Q000473:pathology*