The Assessment and Relationship Between Quality of Life and Physical Activity Levels in Greek Breast Cancer Female Patients under Chemotherapy.

Maria Maridaki,Helen Karagianni,Anastassios Philippou,Michael Koutsilieris,Argyro Papadopetraki

doi:10.3390/sports8030032

Maria Maridaki, Helen Karagianni + Show 3 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/sports8030032

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Journal: Sports	Publication Date: Mar 11, 2020
Citations: 8	License type: CC BY 4.0

Affiliation: National and Kapodistrian University of Athens

Abstract

A growing body of evidence suggests that physical activity (PA) can be a complementary intervention during breast cancer (BCa) treatment, contributing to the alleviation of the chemotherapy-related side-effects. The purpose of this study was to assess physical activity (PA) levels and quality of life (QoL) parameters of BCa patients undergoing chemotherapy and compare them with healthy controls. A total of 94 BCa female patients and 65 healthy women were recruited and self-reported QoL and PA levels. The results reveal that women suffering from BCa spent only 134 ± 469 metabolic equivalents (MET)/week in vigorous PAs compared with the healthy females who spent 985±1508 MET/week. Also, BCa patients were spending 4.62±2.58 h/day sitting, contrary to the 2.34±1.05 h/day of the controls. QoL was scored as 63.43±20.63 and 70.14±19.49 while physical functioning (PF) as 71.48±23.35 and 84.46±15.48 by BCa patients and healthy participants, respectively. Negative correlations were found between QoL and fatigue, PF and pain, and fatigue and dyspnea, while a positive correlation was found between QoL and PF. This study indicated that the BCa group accumulated many hours seated and refrained from vigorous Pas, preferring PAs of moderate intensity. Additionally, BCa patients’ levels of functioning and QoL were moderate to high; however, they were compromised by pain, dyspnea and fatigue.

Highlights

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), cancer is a leading cause of mortality worldwide, while approximately one out of six deaths is due to cancer
These results reveal that breast cancer (BCa) patients’ body mass index (BMI) was 26.63 ± 5.27 kg/m2, categorizing them as overweight, by contrast with the healthy females in the control group whose BMI was marginally normal (25.30 ± 3.95 kg/m2 )
quality of life (QoL), our study showed that BCa patients exhibited

Summary

Introduction

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), cancer is a leading cause of mortality worldwide, while approximately one out of six deaths is due to cancer. In both sexes, lung cancer is the most commonly diagnosed malignancy and the most frequent cancer leading to death. Among females, breast cancer (BCa) constitutes the most commonly diagnosed cancer, as well as the first in mortality rate [1]. The increased survival rates due to advancements in cancer detection and medical care indicate that cancer should be handled as a chronic disease that requires long term management to maintain patients’ quality of life [4].

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