Related Experiment Video
Updated: Feb 19, 2026
Home-Based Prescribed Pulmonary Exercise in Patients with Stable Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease
Published on: August 24, 2019
The effect of home-based program and outpatient physical therapy in patients with head and neck cancer: A randomized,
Tsui-Ling Su1, An-Ni Chen1, Chau-Peng Leong2
1Department of Physical Therapy, Kaohsiung Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, No. 123, Dapi Rd. Niaosong Dist, Kaohsiung City 83301, Taiwan, ROC.
Objectives:
Physical therapy improves outcomes for patients with head and neck cancer (HNC) but home-based program (HBP) has not yet been investigated thoroughly. This study compared a HBP with outpatient physical therapy (OPT).
Methods:
This trial categorized patients with primary HNC into OPT and HBP groups. The patients in the HBP group received home-based therapy once a day for 5 days per week. By contrast, the OPT group received various physical therapies, including aerobic, anaerobic, and stretching therapies, twice per week, plus a thrice-weekly home-based therapy that similarly consisted of aerobic, anaerobic, and stretching exercises. The major outcome was the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Head and Neck (FACT H&N), and secondary outcomes were the visual analog scale (VAS) of shoulder pain, 6-min walking test (6MWT), and shoulder range of motion (ROM), all of which were evaluated before, during, and after interventions.
Results:
Significant improvements were found after 12 weeks of the HBP or OPT. The HBP was not inferior to OPT regarding FACT H&N (p=.074), VAS of shoulder pain (p=.677), 6MWT (p = .677), and shoulder ROM (p=.145 for flexion; p=.383 for abduction).
Conclusions:
Both the HBP and OPT can improve shoulder abduction, shoulder flexion and functional capacity.
