The Effect of Cardiac Rehabilitation on Quality of Life and 6-Minute Walk Test in Breast Cancer Survivors

Abstract

Background Breast cancer (BC) is the most diagnosed cancer in women, contributing to 24.6% of malignancies in females and responsible for 15% of all cancer-related deaths among women worldwide.[1] Over the last 20 years, BC survival rates have significantly improved.[1] However, this survivorship is often marked by fatigue, poor quality of life (QoL), reduced functional capacity along with treatment-related adverse effects.[2] The implementation of a model similar to cardiac rehabilitation (CR) program as a preventive strategy may provide a potential solution to improve functional capacity, quality of life and reduce cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk in cancer survivors.[3] Objective to investigate the effect of 12-week completed cardiac rehabilitation program on quality of life (using FACT-B questionnaire) and 6-minute walk test in breast cancer survivors. Patients and Methods In this 2-arm parallel prospective, randomized, controlled clinical trial, sixty breast cancer survivors 3 months to 1 year after completion of chemotherapy were recruited at Ain Shams University hospitals and divided into two groups Study group (n = 30); participated in 12-week CR program and Control group (n = 30) did not participate in CR program but still received the usual cancer care. Cardiac rehabilitation program consisted of education, diet control, drug adherence, 12 weeks exercise sessions, Behavior and psychosocial management, Sexual activity education Smoking cessation. Functional capacity was assessed before and after study period by sixminute walk test (6MWT) and exercise test (using modified Bruce protocol). All patients were personally interviewed for assessment of quality of life before and after study period using (FACT-B) questionnaire. In addition patients underwent echocardiography assessment before and after study period. Result Sixty female breast cancer survivors were enrolled. Nine patients dropped from CR program, some due to social commitments (n = 2), others due to long distance issues (n = 2), and the remaining were not interested in continuing the program (n = 5). There were no significant differences between the two groups regarding age, baseline BMI, hemoglobin (Hb) levels, medical history, chemotherapy protocol, and radiation. When comparing two groups, the study group showed significant increase in age-predicted 6MWD (p = 0.02), ET (p < 0.001), METs (p < 0.001), QoL score (p < 0.001), along with significant decrease in SBP (p < 0.001), HR (p < 0.001), RPP (p < 0.001). Conclusion The results of this study demonstrated that completed cardiac rehabilitation program improves functional capacity and quality of life in breast cancer survivors. Recommendation We recommend that multicomponent supervised cardiac rehabilitation program should be incorporated within the usual care of breast cancer survivor