Effect of Physiohterapy on Fatigue and Psychological Stress in Cancer Patients During the Course of Chemotherapy

Abstract

To study the Effect of Physiotherapy on Fatigue Psychological Stress in Cancer Patients during the Course of Chemotherapy. Subjects fulfilling the inclusion and exclusion criteria were included. Prior consent was taken and assessment of their fatigue, stress level and pain was done using the brief fatigue inventory, Cohen perceived stress scale and brief pain inventory. Based upon the findings, a tailor made protocol was given to the patients, wherein 3 sets of each exercises 5times a week for a month’s duration had to be followed. The exercises were altered as per the patients’ requirements and capability. Each session conducted was of 35-45min duration which began with Warm-up Exercises including Stretching for 10min, followed by 6 Minute Walk for 6minutes, Harvard Step for 3 minutes and the session was concluded with a Relaxation period of 20minutes. For relief of pain, TENS was given during the Relaxation period. After the 6minute walk, patient’s exertion was checked by the Borg Scale. The exercises were prescribed according to FITTs principle. Statistical analysis was done using unpaired t test. In this study, pre-intervention Brief Pain Inventory was 71.90±12.33 and post-intervention was 61.03±11.47. In Brief Pain Inventory statistically extremely significant difference and decrease in pain post intervention with (p< 0.0001) with t= 7.028. Pre-intervention Brief Fatigue Inventory was 53.83±11.03 and post-intervention was 41.78±13. In Brief Fatigue Inventory statistically extremely significant difference and decrease in fatigue post intervention with (p=<0.0001) with t=9.57. Stress assessment by Cohen Perceived Stress Scale was 21.71±2.27pre treatment and 19.86±2.23 post treatment. In Cohen Perceived Stress Scale, statistically extremely significant difference and decrease in stress level after treatment with (p=<0.0007) with t=4.998. Pre-treatment Rate of perceived exertion was 12.49±3.23 and post treatment was 10.34±2.94.In Rate of Perceived Exertion statistically significant difference and decrease in exertion level post treatment with (p=<0.0007) with t=8.945. Thus the above concludes that physiotherapy had significant improvement clinically and statistically on fatigue and stress in cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy. So this study accepts the alternate hypothesis.

Systematic Review of Functional Outcomes in Cancer Rehabilitation

“…Thirtyfour of these trials were RCTs, 6 were single arm trials. The studies were conducted across breast [168][169][170][171][172][173][174][175][176][177][178][179][180][181] (n=14), hematologic [182][183][184][185][186] (n=5), lung 187,188 (n=2), head and neck 189,190 (n=2), prostate 191 (n=1), colon 192 (n=1), pancreatic 193 (n=1), and mixed cancer types 194-207 (n=14). Most studies occurred during active cancer treatment (n= 25) while 13 studies took place during post-treatment survivorship.…”

The Effect of Structured Physiotherapy Exerciseprogramme on Lung Function in Industrial Workers

“…6-minute walk test has also been used as a onetime measure of functional status of patient as well as a predictor of morbidity and mortality. 5,6 Methodology 60 workers of age group 20-40 from sugar industry participated in this study. They were bounded in single group.…”