No abstract

Purpose Most patients receiving a hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) are able to tolerate and benefit from physical activity (PA). Therefore, it is important that health care professionals (HCPs) advise patients to perform PA before, during, and after transplantation. By understanding which medical conditions and safety issues are associated with the (non-) promotion of PA, concrete actions and interventions can be planned and implemented. Methods Physicians (N = 51), nurses (N = 52), and physical therapists (N = 26) participated in a nationwide cross-sectional online survey. HCPs’ understanding of 15 medical conditions as contraindications for PA was assessed. Significant group differences were determined using chi-square analysis. Results Acute infection was the only condition which was considered as contraindication by all HCPs (62.7%). Cachexia (78%), having a stoma (91%), or port (96.2%), psychological problems (88.4%), and leukopenia (83.3%) were not considered as contraindications. Six conditions were rated inconsistently between the groups, whereas physicians had the least concerns regarding PA. Physicians with an additional training in PA perceived a platelet count of ≤ 50,000/μl significantly less often as contraindication (p < 0.05). Conclusion The large number of potentially-answers especially in nursing staff and physical therapists might reflect caution or uncertainty. There is a clear need for a good multidisciplinary cooperation between all HCPs in order to support patients to confidently engage in PA. Furthermore, education possibilities and evidence-based courses to build knowledge regarding safety concerns should be the standard practice in the setting of HSCT. The investigative nature of the paper indicates that certain trends should be interrogated in a causal-longitudinal design.

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Background Graft-versus-host disease (GvHD) remains a major complication and limitation to successful allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. Treatment of GvHD is challenging due to its heterogeneous nature of presentation, with steroids remaining the established first-line treatment. Long-term doses of systemic corticosteroids have many well-known side-effects including muscle atrophy. Despite the fact that reports in non-cancer clinical populations treated with glucocorticoids demonstrated that resistance training can reverse atrophy and weakness, no RCT has evaluated the potential of resistance training on preventing the disease- and treatment-induced loss of skeletal muscle mass and function in GvHD patients yet. In this context, ensuring adequate nutrition is important as protein deprivation may accelerate the wasting process. As GvHD patients are commonly found to be malnourished, nutritional medical care should be considered when investigating the effect of exercise in GvHD patients. Therefore, the aim of the present “Impact of Resistance Exercise and Nutritional Endorsement on physical performance in patients with GvHD” – Study (IRENE-G) is to evaluate the effects of resistance exercise in combination with nutritional endorsement on physical, nutritional and patient-reported outcomes in GvHD patients. Methods IRENE-G is a 24-week prospective interventional RCT. One hundred twelve participants will be randomly allocated (1:1) to one of two arms: resistance exercise and nutritional optimization (experimental) vs. nutritional optimization only (control). Participants in the experimental group will engage in a supervised, progressive moderate-to-high intensity resistance training that is consistent with exercise guidelines for cancer patients, while additionally receiving nutritional support/therapy. Subjects of the control group solely receive nutritional support/therapy based on individual needs. Participants will be assessed at baseline, at 8, 16, 24 weeks for physical performance and various physiological, nutritional and patient-reported outcomes. Follow-up will be 6 months after intervention completion. Discussion To our knowledge, this will be the first RCT to assess and compare the effects of a resistance intervention supplemented by nutritional support/therapy against nutritional support only on various health-related outcomes in GvHD patients. The study will contribute to our understanding of the value of exercise and nutritional endorsement in counteracting the negative consequences of GvHD and its treatment. Trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT05111834. Registered 8 November 2021 – Retrospectively registered.