Author: Vanderbyl BL1, Mayer MJ2, Nash C1, Tran AT1,3, Windholz T1, Swanson T1, Kasymjanova G3, Jagoe RT4,5.
Affiliation: 1McGill Cancer Nutrition Rehabilitation Program, Segal Cancer Centre, Jewish General Hospital, Room E-809, 3755 Ch de la Cote-Sainte-Catherine, Montreal, QC, H3T 1E2, Canada.
2School of Kinesiology and Physical Education, McGill University, Montreal, Canada.
3Peter Brojde Lung Cancer Centre, Segal Cancer Centre, Jewish General Hospital, Montreal, Canada.
4McGill Cancer Nutrition Rehabilitation Program, Segal Cancer Centre, Jewish General Hospital, Room E-809, 3755 Ch de la Cote-Sainte-Catherine, Montreal, QC, H3T 1E2, Canada. thomas.jagoe@mcgill.ca.
5Peter Brojde Lung Cancer Centre, Segal Cancer Centre, Jewish General Hospital, Montreal, Canada. thomas.jagoe@mcgill.ca.
Conference/Journal: Support Care Cancer
Date published: 2017 Jan 19
Other:
Special Notes: doi: 10.1007/s00520-017-3579-x , Word Count: 277
PURPOSE:
Patients with advanced cancer frequently experience anxiety, depression and poor quality of life (QOL), as well as physical symptoms such as fatigue and weakness. Physical exercise has potential to help control these symptoms but the optimal training prescription is still not clear. We performed a study comparing medical Qigong (QG) and standard endurance and strength training (SET) in patients with advanced stage non-small cell lung (NSCLC) and gastrointestinal (GI) cancers.
METHODS:
A randomized, cross-over study was performed in patients with advanced NSCLC and GI cancers receiving or eligible for chemotherapy. Patients received supervised QG or SET twice-weekly for 6 weeks. Psychological functioning, QOL, symptoms and physical functioning were assessed before and after each intervention period.
RESULTS:
Nineteen patients completed both interventions. Comparing interventions revealed no difference between QG and SET on change in anxiety or depression scores or QOL. However, SET treatment was better at improving perceived strength (P = 0.05) and walking distance (P = 0.02). The order in which interventions were performed had a significant impact on the improvement in certain symptoms (sleep quality, breathlessness, P < 0.05), QOL (P = 0.01) and walking distance (P = 0.008). In all cases, the beneficial effects of the exercise interventions were markedly reduced during the second interval.
CONCLUSIONS:
QG and SET are equivalent in their impact on many aspects of psychological function in cancer patients. However, SET leads to greater improvements in exercise capacity and helps reduce some symptoms. The reduction in beneficial effect of SET on exercise function when offered as the second intervention is a new finding that warrants further study.
KEYWORDS:
Advanced cancer; Exercise; Functional capacity; Medical qigong; Quality of life; Rehabilitation
PMID: 28102437 DOI: 10.1007/s00520-017-3579-x
[PubMed - as supplied by publisher]