Barriers to Therapeutic Exercise in Breast Cancer Patients Before, During, and After Chemotherapy

Condition(s) studied

Investigational drug(s) / intervention(s)

Chemotherapy: The present approved ethics committee includes the conduct of two studies. In the first one, a cross-sectional study, breast cancer patients will be distributed in the study groups according to the moment of their chemotherapy treatment (group 1: pre-chemotherapy, group 2: during chemotherapy, group 3: post-chemotherapy). Each patient will undergo a single evaluation session, which will include the variables detailed in the following section. In the second, a longitudinal study, patients from the previous study in group 1 (pre-chemotherapy) will be followed up. Patients will receive three assessments of the variables detailed in the following section: 1) during the time prior to the start of chemotherapy (assessment that will coincide with study 1), 2) assessment during chemotherapy treatment and, 3) assessment after the end of chemotherapy treatment.

Study summary

Cancer is one of the leading causes of mortality. First-choice cancer treatments, such as chemotherapy, have increased the survival of people with cancer, although they are not without adverse effects such as cardiotoxicity, fatigue, nausea, mental health problems or musculoskeletal disorders.

Therapeutic exercise is a safe and effective intervention that has shown positive results in the oncology population when implemented as an adjuvant to chemotherapy, during or after chemotherapy. Exercise improves cardiorespiratory capacity, fatigue, strength, anxiety, depressive symptoms and quality of life, among others, in cancer patients.

In the implementation of therapeutic exercise in the oncologic population undergoing chemotherapy treatment, it is necessary to take into account possible barriers related to the perception of therapeutic exercise, as well as the side effects derived from chemotherapy. It is necessary to know the barriers to the implementation of exercise in order to address them and favor patients' adherence to exercise programs.

The objective is to identify the barriers (physical, contextual and emotional) that may influence people with breast cancer who are in the pre-, concurrent or post-treatment phase, respectively, of chemotherapy treatment for the implementation of therapeutic exercise.

The study participants (n=111) will be distributed in the study groups according to the moment of chemotherapy treatment they are in (1: pre-chemotherapy, 2: during chemotherapy, 3: post-chemotherapy).

Eligibility

Primary outcome measure(s)

• Cancer-related fatigue — Day 1
  It will be evaluated with the Spanish version of the self-reported Piper Fatigue Scale. It presents 22 items and includes four dimensions related to subjective fatigue (behavioral, affective, sensory and cognitive). Scores are between 0 and 10, the higher the total score the greater the disability (0 = no fatigue, 1-3 = mild fatigue, 4-6 = moderate fatigue, 7-10 = severe fatigue).

Trial sites (1)

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