Outcome Measures to Assess the Effectiveness of Exercise Interventions on Chemotherapy-Induced Peripheral Neuropathy...

Chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN) is a common side effect of neurotoxic chemotherapy that can affect functioning and quality of life. Currently, duloxetine is the only recommended agent to treat painful CIPN; however, no effective pharmacological treatments have been approved for the prevention or cure of CIPN, highlighting the need to understand non-pharmacological strategies such as exercise. Given significant heterogeneity in the CIPN outcome measures chosen across studies, this scoping review aimed to identify the outcome measures used to evaluate the effectiveness of exercise interventions as a potential countermeasure for CIPN. Following the Arksey and O'Malley framework refined by Levac and colleagues, and the PRISMA-ScR guidelines, four databases were searched, and 20 studies were included in the review. Data were abstracted on study characteristics, cancer and chemotherapy factors, exercise prescription, outcome measures, and CIPN-related findings. Outcome measures varied widely across studies, encompassing various patient-reported, clinical, and functional measures. The most common patient-reported, clinical, and functional measures were the EORTC QLQ-CIPN20, vibration sensation, and maximal isometric strength, respectively. No study satisfied the components of the core outcome measure set proposed by Park and colleagues, limiting cross-study comparisons. These findings underscore the need for standardized CIPN outcome measures in future exercise studies to strengthen evidence synthesis and inform clinical practice.