Background Studies have shown that rehabilitation and fitness throughout cancer treatment interventions have been linked to improved outcomes for morbidity and mortality of cancer patients. This study serves to detail the efficacy of the Cancer Rehabilitation Physical Therapy Fitness and Debility (Ca PT) Program in cancer patients. Objective To describe the clinical population of cancer patients referred to the Ca PT Program and evaluate the efficacy of the program's therapy protocol in improving cardiopulmonary performance and cancer‐related fatigue and pain. Design Retrospective study. Setting Outpatient clinics. Patients One hundred two adults who had been referred from a variety of referral sources and supervised individualized exercise programs. Methods Participation in the Ca PT Program. Main Outcome Measurements The primary outcome measure was a change in baseline‐to‐discharge scores in the 6‐Minute Walk Test (6MWT), a cardiopulmonary performance measure. The secondary measures were changes in baseline‐to‐discharge scores of cancer‐related fatigue and general pain, measured by patient self‐report using a visual analogue scale. Results 6MWT values were significantly higher at discharge (mean 523 yards) than at baseline (mean 436), (P < .001, r = 0.57). Ninety‐two percent of cases showed improvement and 58% of cases had a change on the 6MWT that met threshold for minimal important difference. Quality of life factors, fatigue (P < .001) and pain (P < .001) also significantly improved. Conclusions The results indicate the Ca PT Program yields significant improvement in cardiovascular fitness, fatigue, and pain in people with cancer history. Personalized physical therapy fitness programs for individuals recovering from cancer treatment should be a standard component of cancer intervention. Level of Evidence III

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Background. Purpose in life is important to health and well-being; purpose disruption often goes unidentified after breast cancer. Purpose. To evaluate the efficacy of a purpose renewal intervention and utility of a screening question for identifying people with purpose-related distress. Method. In this prospective pretest-posttest study, participants with breast cancer received an 8-session purpose renewal group intervention (n = 35). Participants completed standardized measures of meaning and purpose at pretest, posttest, and two-month follow-up and a forced-choice Purpose Status Question (PSQ) at pretest. Findings. Participants made statistically significant pretest-to-posttest and pretest-to-follow-up improvements. The PSQ demonstrated construct validity: 40% of participants lacked purpose direction at pretest and this subgroup made significantly greater improvements than participants who reported purpose direction at pretest. Implications. The PSQ warrants further study as a screener to identify people with purpose-related distress. Many breast cancer survivors may benefit from a purpose in life intervention; a subgroup may benefit more.

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Background. Performance-based multitasking assessments may be more sensitive than cognitive screens to detect executive dysfunction after a mild stroke. Purpose. This cross-sectional study examined inter-rater reliability and preliminary convergent and discriminant validity of the Front Desk Duty Test (FDDT). Method. Adults with mild stroke ( n = 35) and community controls ( n = 33) were administered the FDDT and other measures of executive functions. Findings. Inter-rater reliability of the FDDT subscores were high (ICC 0.971–0.999). There were weak but statistically significant correlations between participants’ scores on some of the executive function tests and some FDDT subscores. Participants with mild stroke and community controls had statistically significant different FDDT scores (performance accuracy p = .006; performance time, p = .033), with rank order FDDT score patterns across community controls, participants with mild stroke who passed the executive function screen, and participants with mild stroke who failed the executive function screen. Implications. Preliminary validation results suggest that the FDDT warrants further study.