Abstract
BackgroundThe increase in the survival of oncology patients include multiple side effects as cancer-related asthenia and dyspnea, which represents a serious health problem. An implementation of the conventional clinical practice, developed through multimodal physical exercise and functional rehabilitation program intervention, may be useful in controlling dyspnoea. This study aims to evaluate the effects of a multimodal exercise and functional rehabilitation program on fatigue, pain, functional capacity, and quality of life in cancer patients with cancer-related asthenia.MethodsThis is a protocol for an experimental, prospective, randomised study using a parallel, fixed assignment scheme, with an experimental group and a control group in patients from the oncology hospitalisation unit at the Salamanca University Hospital Complex in Spain, using consecutive sampling to select 50 participants with oncological asthenia who are hospitalised at the time of inclusion. After the baseline evaluation, the participants will be randomised into two groups. Both groups will receive standard clinical practice care and the normal health education program at discharge, but in addition, the participants assigned to the experimental group will also complete a multimodal exercise and functional rehabilitation program lasting one month. The primary outcomes will be basic activities of daily living (Barthel Index) and degree of asthenia (FACT-An scale). Additionally, physical performance will be evaluated with the Short Physical Performance Battery (SPPB), as will the attention and executive functions (Trail-Making Test), fear/avoidance of movement (TAMPA scale), pain (VAS scale), and body composition (waist, hip, brachial, thigh, wrist, and ankle circumferences).DiscussionThe results of this study may be translated to clinical practice, incorporating a specific autonomy recovery programme into comprehensive rehabilitation programmes of care for cancer patients with asthenia. The current study addresses to improve the conventional clinical practice by proposing a multimodal physical exercise and functional rehabilitation program intervention, which will be implemented by an interdisciplinary team, to try to improve the autonomy of cancer patients with cancer-related asthenia.Trial registrationClinicalTrials.gov; ID: NCT04761289. (February 18, 2021). https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/ NCT04761289.
Highlights
The increase in the survival of oncology patients include multiple side effects as cancer-related asthenia and dyspnea, which represents a serious health problem
Nowadays, we observe an exponential increase in the five-year survival of patients with cancer, this is due to the improvement in preventive strategies as well as the greater knowledge about the oncologic pathology
There is growing interest in conducting clinical trials on the influence of physical exercise on the quality of life of cancer patients, how these beneficial influences might affect the autonomy of patients in their daily lives remains to be addressed
Summary
The increase in the survival of oncology patients include multiple side effects as cancer-related asthenia and dyspnea, which represents a serious health problem. We observe an exponential increase in the five-year survival of patients with cancer, this is due to the improvement in preventive strategies as well as the greater knowledge about the oncologic pathology. Related to this higher life expectancy in cancer patients, an increase in the side effects of the treatments administered to surviving patients has been observed [1]. Cancerrelated asthenia is the most common symptom associated with cancer and its treatment, and it strongly impacts patient quality-of-life parameters [4] This problem is still generally underestimated by many professionals in the field of oncology [5]
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
