Exercise Dose Required to Enhance Quality of Life in Cancer Survivors

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0705 The treatment of certain cancers is often accompanied by serious psychological and physiological side effects that can greatly reduce the quality of life (QOL) in cancer survivors. These include: decreased aerobic capacity, muscular atrophy, decreased strength and flexibility, adverse body composition changes, depression, anxiety and fatigue. Previous studies have shown exercise to be effective in reducing or alleviating many of these side effects, leading to an improvement in overall QOL. However, most studies have utilized a pretest-posttest design that is sufficiently insensitive to recognize the exercise dose needed to generate significant change in QOL. PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to investigate the exercise dose required to significantly improve QOL in cancer survivors. METHODS: Twenty cancer survivors (15 female, 5 male, 43–79 years of age) served as subjects. Subjects participated in a ten-week low to moderate intensity (25–40% heart rate reserve) exercise program for 14–20 minutes, three times a week. QOL was assessed weekly with the Quality of Life Index for Patients with Cancer. This scale is composed of 14 items evaluating physical condition, normal activities, and personal attitudes on general quality of life. RESULTS: ANOVA results revealed a significant increase in QOL over the ten weeks (p = .0001). Followup analysis (Scheffe post-hoc test) revealed a significant improvement in overall QOL by week 6 (p < .05). Of the 14 sub-scale components that compose the overall QOL score, the subjects improved most on their perceived strength, ability to sleep and their ability to perform daily tasks. CONCLUSIONS: These results indicate that low to moderate intensity aerobic exercise is beneficial in improving QOL and at least six weeks of aerobic activity are needed to see a significant improvement in QOL. This relatively low dose-response relationship should be beneficial in optimizing cancer survivor adherence to an exercise program.