Gait Changes After a Mobile Health Exercise Intervention in Older Adults With Myeloid Neoplasms: Single-Arm Pilot...

Myeloid neoplasms (MNs) are most frequently diagnosed among adults aged 60 years and older. Cancer and chemotherapy can cause gait disturbances and increase fall risk in older adults with MNs. Exercise may improve gait, but there is a lack of research among older adults with MNs undergoing active chemotherapy.

We explored gait changes following a home-based mobile health exercise intervention during 2 cycles of outpatient chemotherapy (8-12 weeks).

In a single-arm pilot study, we included adults aged 60 years and older with MNs undergoing chemotherapy. Geriatric Oncology-Exercise for Cancer Patients intervention integrates a progressive aerobic walking and resistance exercise program with a mobile app. We assessed gait by using a waist-worn G-Walk motion sensor during a 6-minute walk at the preintervention and postintervention time points. Spatiotemporal outcomes included cadence (steps per minute), velocity (meters per minute), normalized stride (stride length normalized over height), and swing duration (percentage of the gait cycle during which a foot is in the air when walking). Regularity outcomes that measure gait rhythm included variability of normalized stride and variability of swing duration. Variability for both outcomes was quantified as the SD across all gait cycles. We calculated Cohen d effect sizes (ESs) for change in gait outcomes and used the Spearman rank correlation to correlate changes in daily steps and resistance exercise duration with gait outcomes.

We included 13 patients (mean age 71, SD 4.8 years); most were male (n=8, 61.5%), White individuals (n=12, 92.3%), and non-Hispanic individuals (n=13, 100%). Average daily steps were 3084 (SD 1765.5) at the preintervention time point and 3757 (SD 2623.6) at the postintervention time point. Patients performed resistance exercises for 25 minutes per day, 4 days per week at low intensity (mean rating of perceived exertion 3/10, SD 1.3). At the postintervention time point, we observed numerical changes in gait outcomes, including increased cadence (mean +4.6, SD 14.6 steps per minute; P=.24; ES=0.38) and decreased variability in normalized stride (mean -1.4%, SD 8.5%; P=.34; ES=-0.18) and swing duration (mean -0.1%, SD 1.1%; P=.54; ES=-0.15), although these improvements were not statistically significant. Increased daily steps significantly correlated with decreased swing duration variability (r=-0.72; P=.01). Resistance exercise duration significantly correlated with increased cadence (r=0.54; P=.06) and velocity (r=0.56; P=.05).

In our exploratory analyses, better adherence to exercise correlated with improved gait outcomes. Our ongoing pilot randomized controlled trial (ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT04981821) will further examine the effects of the Geriatric Oncology-Exercise for Cancer Patients intervention on gait outcomes in this population.