Patients undergoing hematopoietic stem cell transplantation are isolated and commonly bedridden. Our aim was to investigate whether a nursing intervention is feasible to increase physical activity after a stem cell transplantation, compared to standard care. A secondary aim was to compare quality of life between the groups. A non-equivalent group pretest-posttest design was applied. Twenty-two patients were included in the standard care group and 21 in the intervention group. The intervention comprised physical activity support pre transplantation, daily during hospital stay, and 14 days post discharge. An activity diary, metabolic equivalent of tasks, the six-minute walking test and the FACT-Anaemia Scale were used for evaluation. This study is reported in accordance with the CONSORT statement. The intervention group was more physically active, walked further in six minutes and seemed to have a slightly better quality of life compared to patients receiving standard care. The nursing intervention increased physical activity and may be associated with a better quality of life in patients undergoing hematopoietic stem cell transplantation.

Purpose: To investigate if physical activity (PA) support could increase PA and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in patients isolated after haematological stem cell transplantation, compared with standard care. Methods: A prospective historical control group design was used. Patients were sequentially included in a standard care group (SCG, n=22) or a physical activity support group (PASG, n=21). PASG patients received PA support at a pre-transplantation consultation, daily during admission, and at follow-up 14 days post-discharge. All participants undertook a 6-minute walking test (6MWT) at the beginning and end of their hospital stay. HRQoL was evaluated using the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy – Anaemia scale. Patients reported all PA, including sitting, throughout their hospital stay. Metabolic Equivalents of Task (METs) were calculated. Results: PASG patients spent more time sitting and doing various activities, and less in bed, than SCG patients (p=0.03–0.06). They had more calculated METs for total PA out of bed (p=0.02) and time spent sitting (p=0.05). PASG patients walked further in the 6MWT than SCG patients at baseline (p=0.02) and at discharge, but not significantly. There were no statistically significant differences in HRQoL, but PASG patients had clinically important less fatigue at discharge and clinically important better HRQoL 6 months post-discharge. Conclusions: Providing stem cell patients, pre-transplantation, with individual care plans for structured PA support during the hospital stay might increase PA and have a clinically important impact on HRQoL. Larger studies are needed to evaluate the effects of PA support on medical outcome and length of hospital stay.