Balance Training to Improve Physical Abilities in Children During and After Oncological Treatment

To investigate the effects of a specific balance training (BT) on lower extremity functions during and after pediatric oncological therapy.

During a 6-week intervention (DRKS00031418), children with cancer during (IG1) and after (IG2) acute oncological treatment participated in a child-friendly BT up to 6×/week. Training sessions were conducted supervised or self-administered. Parameters of feasibility were evaluated and effects on physical abilities were assessed through functional tests.

20 children (IG1 n = 10, IG2 n = 10) with different oncological diagnoses between 5 and 21 years participated. Of 36 training sessions offered, 22.8 ± 9.1 sessions took place (participation rate: 63.2 ± 25.3%), without occurrence of adverse events/severe side effects deteriorating health status or leading to study drop out. Functional tests revealed improvements in symptoms of chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy in lower extremities in the total group (IG1 + IG2) (n = 18, T1: 8.6 ± 4.4, T2: 6.2 ± 5.8, p < 0.05, Wilcoxon test) and in active ankle dorsiflexion range of motion (extended legs) in IG1 (n = 9, T1: 2.2 ± 9.7, T2: 8.1 ± 11.5, p < 0.05, Wilcoxon test).

The study's findings underline the feasibility of BT during and after pediatric-oncological therapy. Furthermore, the study revealed first improvements on single physical parameters.