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The Role of Structured Exercise in Breast Cancer Survivorship
Baraah M A Mohamed1, Christina Paluskievicz1, Caitlin Bean1
1York Wellspan Hospital and Johns Hopkins Hospital, New York, USA.
Objective:
Survivorship care in breast cancer patients includes focusing on quality of life and lifestyle modification. Despite the known benefits of exercise during and after cancer treatment, breast cancer survivors often decrease their total physical activity post-diagnosis due to the fear of excessive exercise exertion. Our pilot interventional study investigates the effect of a structured exercise program on breast cancer survivorship and quality of life when a physician endorses exercise.
Materials And Methods:
An observational study including female breast cancer patients aged 18 and older who completed their active cancer treatment between 6 to 12 months prior and were enrolled in a structured exercise program endorsed by their primary oncologic physician. A certified cancer fitness instructor led the 10-week exercise program. The program was offered by a third-party, not-for-profit organization and included evidence-based exercises recommended for cancer patients, targeting strength, resistance training, cardio, balance, and flexibility. Patients consented to complete the RAND 36-item Health Survey before and after the program. Primary outcomes were quality of life and compliance with the exercise program. The surveys were scored and formed eight scales. Within-subject changes in each scale were calculated and summarized across subjects with the mean change and 95% confidence interval (CI). Higher scores indicate greater improvement.
Results:
Five female breast cancer patients participated in the exercise program. Compliance was 100%. Overall, there was a significant improvement in various components of quality of life, including physical functioning (mean within-subject change 13.0 points, 95% CI: 5.9 to 20.1), energy/fatigue (mean change 16.0, CI: 2.5 to 29.5), emotional well-being (mean change 9.6, CI: 1.3 to 17.9), and social functioning (mean change 12.5, 1.5 to 23.5).
Conclusion:
Participating in a physician-endorsed structured exercise program during the survivorship period improves the quality of life of breast cancer patients. When regular exercise is endorsed explicitly by a treating physician, there are high compliance rates.
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