Abstract
BackgroundProgressive, incurable cancer is associated with increased fatigue, increased muscle weakness, and reduced physical functioning, all of which negatively impact quality of life. Physical activity has demonstrated benefits on cancer-related fatigue and physical functioning in early-stage cancer patients; however, its impact on these outcomes in end-stage cancer has not been established. The aim of this systematic review is to determine the potential benefits, harms, and effects of physical activity interventions on quality of life outcomes in advanced cancer patients.Methods/designA systematic review of peer-reviewed literature on physical activity in advanced cancer patients will be undertaken. Empirical quantitative studies will be considered for inclusion if they present interventional or observational data on physical activity in advanced cancer patients. Searches will be conducted in the following electronic databases: CINAHL; CIRRIE Database of International Rehabilitation Research; Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews (CDSR); Database of s of Reviews of Effects (DARE); Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL); EMBASE; MEDLINE; PEDro: the Physiotherapy Evidence Database; PQDT; PsycInfo; PubMed; REHABDATA; Scopus; SPORTDiscus; and Web of Science, to identify relevant studies of interest. Additional strategies to identify relevant studies will include citation searches and evaluation of reference lists of included articles. Titles, abstracts, and keywords of identified studies from the search strategies will be screened for inclusion criteria. Two independent reviewers will conduct quality appraisal using the Effective Public Health Practice Project Quality Assessment Tool for Quantitative Studies (EPHPP) and the Cochrane risk of bias tool. A descriptive summary of included studies will describe the study designs, participant and activity characteristics, and objective and patient-reported outcomes.DiscussionThis systematic review will summarize the current evidence base on physical activity interventions in advanced cancer patients. The findings from this systematic review will identify gaps to be explored by future research studies and inform future practice guideline development of physical activity interventions in advanced cancer patients.Systematic review registrationPROSPERO CRD42015026281Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13643-016-0220-x) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
Highlights
Progressive, incurable cancer is associated with increased fatigue, increased muscle weakness, and reduced physical functioning, all of which negatively impact quality of life
The findings from this systematic review will identify gaps to be explored by future research studies and inform future practice guideline development of physical activity interventions in advanced cancer patients
The American Cancer Society’s most recent guidelines recommend regular exercise to cancer patients both during and after treatment for improved quality of life [13]. These conclusions, are drawn from an evidence base that is largely restricted to early-stage cancer patients who are able and willing to participate in moderate-to-vigorous-intensity exercise interventions
Summary
Strengths and limitations of the review This review is transparent in its adherence to validated methods and employs a systematic and replicable approach toward searching, screening, appraising, and extracting data from the current evidence base. Including information professionals with advanced search skills in the development of the search strategy will improve accuracy of the search methodology. Additional file 1: PRISMA-P (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis Protocols) 2015 checklist. Authors’ contributions SSL conceived and designed this study protocol, developed the literature search strategy, and drafted this manuscript for publication. MT contributed to the search strategy development, arranged for the search strategy peer review, conducted all the electronic database searches, and read and provided comments for the final manuscript. JF read and provided comments for the final manuscript. SMW read and provided comments for the final manuscript. KSC read and provided comments for the final manuscript.
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