OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effectiveness of an 8-week aquatic program on cancer-related fatigue, as well as physical and psychological outcomes in breast cancer survivors. DESIGN: A randomized controlled trial. SETTING:Outpatient clinic, urban, academic medical center, and a sport university swimming pool. PARTICIPANTS: Breast cancer survivors (N=68) were randomly assigned to either an experimental (aquatic exercise group in deep water pool) group or a control (usual care) group. INTERVENTIONS: The intervention group attended aquatic exercise sessions 3 times per week for 8 weeks in a heated deep swimming pool. Sessions lasted 60 minutes in duration: 10 minutes of warm-up, 40 minutes of aerobic and endurance exercises, and 10 minutes of cool-down exercises. Patients allocated to the usual care group followed the oncologist's recommendations in relation to a healthy lifestyle. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Values for fatigue (Piper Fatigue Scale), mood state (Profile of Mood States), and abdominal (trunk curl static endurance test) and leg (multiple sit-to-stand test) strength were collected at baseline, after the last treatment session, and at a 6-month follow-up. RESULTS: Immediately after discharge, the aquatic exercise group showed a large effect size in total fatigue score (d=.87; 95% confidence interval, .48-1.26), trunk curl endurance (d=.92; 95% confidence interval, 1.97-3.83), and leg strength (d=1.10; .55-2.76), but negligible effects in vigor, confusion, and disturbance of mood (d<.25). At the 6-month follow-up period, the aquatic exercise group maintained large to small effect sizes in fatigue scores, multiple sit-to-stand test, and trunk curl static endurance (.25>d>.90) and negligible effects for the fatigue-severity dimension and different scales of the Profile of Mood States (d<.25). CONCLUSION: An aquatic exercise program conducted in deep water was effective for improving cancer-related fatigue and strength in breast cancer survivors.
RCT Entities:
OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effectiveness of an 8-week aquatic program on cancer-related fatigue, as well as physical and psychological outcomes in breast cancer survivors. DESIGN: A randomized controlled trial. SETTING:Outpatient clinic, urban, academic medical center, and a sport university swimming pool. PARTICIPANTS: Breast cancer survivors (N=68) were randomly assigned to either an experimental (aquatic exercise group in deep water pool) group or a control (usual care) group. INTERVENTIONS: The intervention group attended aquatic exercise sessions 3 times per week for 8 weeks in a heated deep swimming pool. Sessions lasted 60 minutes in duration: 10 minutes of warm-up, 40 minutes of aerobic and endurance exercises, and 10 minutes of cool-down exercises. Patients allocated to the usual care group followed the oncologist's recommendations in relation to a healthy lifestyle. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Values for fatigue (Piper Fatigue Scale), mood state (Profile of Mood States), and abdominal (trunk curl static endurance test) and leg (multiple sit-to-stand test) strength were collected at baseline, after the last treatment session, and at a 6-month follow-up. RESULTS: Immediately after discharge, the aquatic exercise group showed a large effect size in total fatigue score (d=.87; 95% confidence interval, .48-1.26), trunk curl endurance (d=.92; 95% confidence interval, 1.97-3.83), and leg strength (d=1.10; .55-2.76), but negligible effects in vigor, confusion, and disturbance of mood (d<.25). At the 6-month follow-up period, the aquatic exercise group maintained large to small effect sizes in fatigue scores, multiple sit-to-stand test, and trunk curl static endurance (.25>d>.90) and negligible effects for the fatigue-severity dimension and different scales of the Profile of Mood States (d<.25). CONCLUSION: An aquatic exercise program conducted in deep water was effective for improving cancer-related fatigue and strength in breast cancer survivors.
Authors: Ann M Berger; Kathi Mooney; Amy Alvarez-Perez; William S Breitbart; Kristen M Carpenter; David Cella; Charles Cleeland; Efrat Dotan; Mario A Eisenberger; Carmen P Escalante; Paul B Jacobsen; Catherine Jankowski; Thomas LeBlanc; Jennifer A Ligibel; Elizabeth Trice Loggers; Belinda Mandrell; Barbara A Murphy; Oxana Palesh; William F Pirl; Steven C Plaxe; Michelle B Riba; Hope S Rugo; Carolina Salvador; Lynne I Wagner; Nina D Wagner-Johnston; Finly J Zachariah; Mary Anne Bergman; Courtney Smith Journal: J Natl Compr Canc Netw Date: 2015-08 Impact factor: 11.908
Authors: Tracy D Vannorsdall; Ermiece Straub; Christina Saba; Mallory Blackwood; Jingyi Zhang; Keren Stearns; Karen Lisa Smith Journal: Support Care Cancer Date: 2020-10-21 Impact factor: 3.603
Authors: Rebecca R Turner; Liz Steed; Helen Quirk; Rosa U Greasley; John M Saxton; Stephanie Jc Taylor; Derek J Rosario; Mohamed A Thaha; Liam Bourke Journal: Cochrane Database Syst Rev Date: 2018-09-19