Purpose Cognitive decline is one of the main side effects of breast cancer patients after relevant treatment, but there is a lack of clear measures for prevention and management without de nite mechanism. Moreover, postoperative patients also have a need for limb rehabilitation. Whether the cognitive bene ts of Baduanjin exercise can improve the overall well-being of this breast cancer patients remains unknown. This study aims to gure out these problems in the under-researched Chinese population.Methods This randomized controlled trial was conducted on 70 patients with breast cancer undergoing chemotherapy who were randomly assigned and allocated to (1:1) the supervised Baduanjin group (5 times/week, 30 min each time) or the control group for three months. The effects of Baduanjin exercise intervention were evaluated by outcome measures including subjective cognitive function, symptoms (fatigue, depression and anxiety) and health-related quality of life at pre-intervention (T0), 4 weeks (T1), 8 weeks (T2) and 12 weeks (T3). The collected data were analyzed by using an intention-to-treat principle and linear mixed-effects modeling.Results Participants in the Baduanjin group had a signi cantly greater improvement in terms of FACT-cog (F=14.511; P < 0.001), PCI (F=15.915; P < 0.001), PCA (F=2.767; P= 0.047), and health-related quality of life (F=8.900; p = 0.004) compared with the control group over the time. The exercise-cognition relationship was signi cantly mediated by reduced fatigue (indirect effect: β= 0.132; 95% CI: 0.046, 0.237) and improved anxiety (indirect effect: β=-0.075; 95% CI: -0.165, -0.004).Conclusions This pilot study revealed the bene ts and outlined the underlying mediating mechanism of Baduanjin exercise to the subjective cognition and health-related quality of life of Chinese breast cancer patients receiving chemotherapy. The ndings provided insights into the development of public health initiatives to promote brain health and improve quality of life among breast cancer patients. Trial registration number ChiCTR 2000033152

Purpose Cognitive decline is one of the main side effects of breast cancer patients after relevant treatment, but there is a lack of clear measures for prevention and management without definite mechanism. Moreover, postoperative patients also have a need for limb rehabilitation. Whether the cognitive benefits of Baduanjin exercise can improve the overall well-being of this breast cancer patients remains unknown. This study aims to figure out these problems in the under-researched Chinese population.Methods This randomized controlled trial was conducted on 70 patients with breast cancer undergoing chemotherapy who were randomly assigned and allocated to (1:1) the supervised Baduanjin group (5 times/week, 30 min each time) or the control group for three months. The effects of Baduanjin exercise intervention were evaluated by outcome measures including subjective cognitive function, symptoms (fatigue, depression and anxiety) and health-related quality of life at pre-intervention (T0), 4 weeks (T1), 8 weeks (T2) and 12 weeks (T3). The collected data were analyzed by using an intention-to-treat principle and linear mixed-effects modeling.Results Participants in the Baduanjin group had a significantly greater improvement in terms of FACT-cog (F=14.511; P < 0.001), PCI (F=15.915; P < 0.001), PCA (F=2.767; P= 0.047), and health-related quality of life (F=8.900; p = 0.004) compared with the control group over the time. The exercise-cognition relationship was significantly mediated by reduced fatigue (indirect effect: β= 0.132; 95% CI: 0.046, 0.237) and improved anxiety (indirect effect: β=-0.075; 95% CI: -0.165, -0.004).Conclusions This pilot study revealed the benefits and outlined the underlying mediating mechanism of Baduanjin exercise to the subjective cognition and health-related quality of life of Chinese breast cancer patients receiving chemotherapy. The findings provided insights into the development of public health initiatives to promote brain health and improve quality of life among breast cancer patients.Trial registration number ChiCTR 2000033152

Background More than 50% cognitive impairment was reported by cancer patients before and after medical treatment. However, there are no effective interventions to manage the cognitive problem in women with breast cancer. This pilot study was designed to evaluate the protective effect of Baduanjin exercise on cognitive function and cancer-related symptoms in women with early-stage breast cancer undergoing chemotherapy. Method A single-blinded, randomized control trial was designed. The trial will recruit 70 patients with early-stage breast cancer scheduled to receive chemotherapy from Shanghai in China. All participants will be randomly assigned to (1:1) the supervised Baduanjin group (5 times/week, 30 min each time) or the wait-list control group for 3 months. The effect of Baduanjin exercise intervention will be evaluated by outcome measures including subjective and objective cognitive function, symptoms (fatigue, depression, and anxiety), and health-related quality of life at pre-intervention (T0), 8 weeks (T1), and 12 weeks (T2). The PCI score in the FACT-Cog as the primary cognitive outcome will be reported descriptively, while effect sizes and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) will be calculated. The collected data will be analyzed by using an intention-to-treat principle and linear mixed-effects modeling. Discussion This is the first randomized clinical trial to investigate whether Baduanjin exercise will have a positive role in improving cognitive function in women with breast cancer receiving chemotherapy. If possible, Baduanjin exercise will be a potential non-pharmacological intervention to manage cognitive dysfunction and promote survivorship care among breast cancer survivors. Trial registration Chinese Clinical Trial Registry (ChiCTR) ChiCTR2000033152. Registered on 22 May 2020