Effect of lung rehabilitation exercise on cancer-related fatigue and quality of life in patients with non-small cell lung cancer undergoing chemotherapy

Abstract

Objective To investigate the effect of lung rehabilitation exercise on cancer-related fatigue and quality of life in patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) undergoing chemotherapy. Methods From October 2016 to October 2018, 82 patients with NSCLC treated in Zhejiang Rongjun Hospital were randomly divided into control group (41 cases) and observation group (41 cases) according to random number table method.The control group was given routine intervention, while the observation group was given lung rehabilitation exercise on the basis of the control group.Both two groups were evaluated after 8 weeks of intervention.The changes of lung function, cancer-related fatigue and quality of life before and after intervention were compared between the two groups. Results After intervention, the FEV1% and FEV1/FVC in the two groups were higher than those before intervention (observation group: t=18.565, 11.207; control group: t=9.363, 6.028, all P<0.05). After intervention, the FEV1% [(64.38±3.79)%] and FEV1/FVC (69.47±6.54) in the observation group were higher than those in the control group [(56.74±2.85)% and (60.10±4.25)] (t=10.316, 7.692, all P<0.05). After intervention, the scores of body, cognition, behavior and emotion in the two groups were higher than those before intervention (observation group: t=17.663, 15.167, 12.304, 14.750; control group: t=9.869, 6.617, 7.566, 9.553, all P<0.05). After intervention, the scores of body [(6.57±0.31)points], cognition[(6.15±0.42)points], behavior[(6.32±0.31)points] and emotion [(6.28±0.21)points] in the observation group were higher than those in the control group [(5.78±0.28)points, (5.41±0.48)points, (5.78±0.27)points and (5.82±0.25)points] (t=12.109, 7.429, 8.411, 9.021, all P<0.05). After intervention, the scores of social function, cognitive function, emotional function, role function, physical function and general health in the two groups were higher than those before intervention (observation group: t=14.487, 17.845, 22.025, 16.393, 11.665, 14.533; control group: t=9.880, 9.777, 10.797, 6.231, 6.838, 6.512, all P<0.05). After intervention, the scores of social function[(75.48±8.19)points], cognitive function[(72.43±6.32)points], emotional function [(71.93±5.74)points], role function[(63.25±7.86)points], physical function[(69.45±8.97)points] and general health[(68.39±7.54)points] in the observation group were higher than those in the control group [(67.31±6.74)points, (60.38±5.75)points, (59.64±6.56)points, (51.47±10.29)points, (58.83±7.09)points and (56.82±7.38)points] (t=4.932, 9.030, 9.028, 5.825, 5.947, 7.022, all P<0.05). Conclusion Lung rehabilitation exercise has good clinical effect on patients with NSCLC undergoing chemotherapy.It can alleviate cancer-related fatigue and improve the quality of life of patients.It is worthy of clinical reference. Key words: Carcinoma, non-small cell lung; Antineoplastic combined chemotherapy protocoks; Rehabilitation, vocational; Vital capacity; Quality of life; Fatigue