Effects of a pilot 12-week exercise program on breast cancer survivors’ quality of life.

Abstract

e12525 Background: Previous studies have demonstrated that breast cancer survivors commonly experience a decrease in quality of life including an increased risk of depression, insomnia, cancer-related fatigue, and negative body image. Several studies have shown that exercise interventions, such as yoga, Pilates, water aerobics, and strengthening exercises can improve survivors’ quality of life. We implemented a 12-week exercise program in breast cancer survivors and evaluated quality of life changes. Here we discuss our findings evaluating 13 quality of life questionnaires. Methods: We evaluated 46 participants who completed a baseline and post 12-week questionnaire assessment. All participants underwent an exercise program 3 times/week for 90 minutes/session. We calculated differences in baseline and post 12-week quality of life through 13 questionnaires: Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy - General (FACT-G) Physical, Social/Family, Emotional, and Functional, Social Support, Insomnia Severity Index, Brief Fatigue Inventory, Patient Health Questionnaire, and Body Image after Breast Cancer (BIBCQ) Vulnerability Scale (VS), Body Stigma Scale (BSS), Limitations Scale (LS), Body Concerns Scale (BCS), Transparency Scale (TS), and Arm Concerns Scale (ACS) and assessed the intervention's efficacy by comparing the baseline and post 12-week scores using paired t-tests. Results: The difference between baseline and post 12-week quality of life are presented in the Table. 7/13 questionnaires showed statistical significance: FACT-G Physical and Functional, Insomnia Severity Index, Brief Fatigue Inventory, Patient Health Questionnaire, and BIBCQ LS and BCS. Conclusions: Our study showed improvement in metrics evaluated in breast cancer survivors who underwent the personalized exercise program. Specifically, body image was improved with exercise which further exemplifies the impact of lifestyle changes on quality of life measures and is an important adjunct to future cancer survivorship studies. Clinical trial information: NCT04013568 . [Table: see text]