TY - JOUR
T1 - Effects of home-based exercise programs on physical fitness in cancer patients undergoing active treatment
T2 - A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials
AU - Correia, Inês Ramos
AU - Cardoso, Vasco
AU - Cargaleiro, Catarina
AU - Magalhães, João P.
AU - Hetherington-Rauth, Megan
AU - Rosa, Gil B.
AU - Malveiro, Carla
AU - de Matos, Leonor Vasconcelos
AU - Cardoso, Maria João
AU - Sardinha, Luís B.
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was conducted at the Interdisciplinary Center for the Study of Human Performance (CIPER), unit I&D 447 (UIDB/00447/2020), Faculty of Human Kinetics of the University of Lisbon, and supported by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology , the Portuguese Ministry of Science. IRC and GBR are supported by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology ( IRC: SFRH/BD/149394/2019 ; GBR: 2020.07856.BD ).
Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 The Authors
PY - 2023/4/1
Y1 - 2023/4/1
N2 - Objectives: This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to investigate the effects of home-based exercise on physical fitness (cardiorespiratory fitness, muscle strength, and body composition) in cancer patients undergoing active treatment. Design: Systematic review with meta-analysis and Grading Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation of the evidence. Methods: A comprehensive search of existing literature was carried out in four electronic databases: PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, and PEDro. All databases were searched for randomized controlled trials assessing the effects of home-based exercise on physical fitness outcomes in cancer patients during active treatment. Multicomponent interventions (i.e., exercise plus diet/behavioral therapy) were excluded. The methodological quality of each study was assessed using the Revised Cochrane risk-of-bias tool for randomized trials. Meta-analytical procedures were performed when appropriate and standardized mean differences (SMD) were calculated. Results: Twenty-eight randomized controlled trials (n = 2424 cancer patients) were included. Most of the interventions were conducted in breast cancer patients (n = 13) during the adjuvant treatment period (n = 17); 18 studies included a walking component in their home-based protocol. Home-based exercise was effective at improving the distance of the 6-minute walk test (k = 6; SMD = 0.321, p = 0.010). However, the results were no longer significant when performing sensitivity analysis based on exclusively walking (k = 1) and non-exclusively walking interventions (k = 5; SMD = 0.258; p = 0.072). No effects were found for muscle strength and body composition outcomes (p > 0.05). Conclusions: Regular home-based exercise programs are an effective strategy to improve 6-minutes walk test in cancer patients undergoing active treatment. Conversely, no alterations were found in muscle strength and body composition.
AB - Objectives: This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to investigate the effects of home-based exercise on physical fitness (cardiorespiratory fitness, muscle strength, and body composition) in cancer patients undergoing active treatment. Design: Systematic review with meta-analysis and Grading Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation of the evidence. Methods: A comprehensive search of existing literature was carried out in four electronic databases: PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, and PEDro. All databases were searched for randomized controlled trials assessing the effects of home-based exercise on physical fitness outcomes in cancer patients during active treatment. Multicomponent interventions (i.e., exercise plus diet/behavioral therapy) were excluded. The methodological quality of each study was assessed using the Revised Cochrane risk-of-bias tool for randomized trials. Meta-analytical procedures were performed when appropriate and standardized mean differences (SMD) were calculated. Results: Twenty-eight randomized controlled trials (n = 2424 cancer patients) were included. Most of the interventions were conducted in breast cancer patients (n = 13) during the adjuvant treatment period (n = 17); 18 studies included a walking component in their home-based protocol. Home-based exercise was effective at improving the distance of the 6-minute walk test (k = 6; SMD = 0.321, p = 0.010). However, the results were no longer significant when performing sensitivity analysis based on exclusively walking (k = 1) and non-exclusively walking interventions (k = 5; SMD = 0.258; p = 0.072). No effects were found for muscle strength and body composition outcomes (p > 0.05). Conclusions: Regular home-based exercise programs are an effective strategy to improve 6-minutes walk test in cancer patients undergoing active treatment. Conversely, no alterations were found in muscle strength and body composition.
KW - Body composition
KW - Cardiorespiratory fitness
KW - Exercise oncology
KW - Muscle strength
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85151364353&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.jsams.2023.03.009
DO - 10.1016/j.jsams.2023.03.009
M3 - Review article
C2 - 37002132
AN - SCOPUS:85151364353
SN - 1440-2440
VL - 26
SP - 222
EP - 231
JO - Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport
JF - Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport
IS - 4-5
ER -
