Abstract CN66
Background
Breast cancer is the second most common in the world and it causes the most deaths in women. Despite advances in treatment women can experience functional and emotional symptoms that affect the quality of their life. Cancer-related fatigue is one of the most common impairments. Moderate-intensity aerobic physical exercise is one of the interventions that can determine an improvement in fatigue symptoms. We evaluated the effectiveness of an aerobic exercise program aimed at reducing cancer-related fatigue in patients with breast cancer in active treatment, compared to the standard treatment.
Methods
This randomized controlled study was designed to evaluate the effectiveness of exercise in breast cancer patients suffering from cancer-related fatigue. It was conducted in an outpatient cancer center in Italy. According to the following eligibility criteria, we used a non-probabilistic convenience sampling procedure to invite 50 cancer patients: women over the age of 18; breast cancer; active cancer treatment; informed consent. Baseline demographic data were collected using a demographic and clinical characteristics form developed ad hoc for the study. Cancer-related Fatigue was assessed using the Italian version of the Brief Fatigue Inventory (BFI) on the day patients signed the informed consent form (T0), after one week (T1), and up to a maximum of eight weeks (T2-T8). The patients in the intervention group received an aerobic exercise card and a chart in which recording the aerobic exercise program performed every single week. The data was collected at the site every week. The data analysis was carried out using the SPSS version 26.
Results
Thirty-six out of 50 women gave their informed consent. There was a difference between the two groups for age (p = 0.032). The patients’ mean fatigue score during the eight weeks showed a statistically significant decrease (p=0,034).
Conclusions
the implementation of an aerobic exercise program reduces fatigue in patients with breast cancer during active chemotherapy treatment. Cancer nurses should provide adequate education through the use of aerobic exercise educational tools.
Clinical trial identification
Editorial acknowledgement
Legal entity responsible for the study
The authors.
Funding
Has not received any funding.
Disclosure
All authors have declared no conflicts of interest.