Effects of Aerobic and Resistance Exercises on Physical Symptoms in Cancer Patients: A Meta-analysis

Abstract

Objective. This study aimed to conduct a meta-analysis to establish the effect of exercise interventions on physical symptoms, including fatigue, nausea/vomiting, pain, dyspnea, insomnia, loss of appetite, constipation, and diarrhea in cancer patients and survivors. Methods. We searched articles published before April 2017 using the following databases: Cochrane Library, PubMed/MEDLINE, CINAHL, Scopus, PEDro, Health & Medical Collection, and Psychology Database. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of exercise intervention in cancer patients, which evaluated cancer-related physical symptoms using the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire-C30, were included. Symptom scale data were extracted for meta-analysis. Subgroup analyses were performed for exercise types (aerobic, resistance, and mixed exercise programs). Results. Of the 659 articles, 10 RCTs were included in the meta-analysis, of which the mean PEDro score was 5.43 (SD = 1.28). Fatigue, pain, dyspnea, and insomnia were significantly lower in the intervention group than in the control group at postintervention in cancer patients. However, exercise intervention did not promote or suppress nausea/vomiting, loss of appetite, constipation, and diarrhea in cancer patients. The effect of exercise type on each symptom was not different. Conclusion. Exercise intervention was confirmed to improve fatigue, pain, and insomnia and might have reduced dyspnea in cancer patients. However, the benefits of exercise on nausea/vomiting, loss of appetite, constipation, and diarrhea were not shown in any exercise type. Further research is warranted to examine the effects of exercise interventions on physical symptoms in cancer patients.

The Effects of Pharmacological and Non-Pharmacological Interventions on Symptom Management and Quality of Life among Breast Cancer Survivors Undergoing Adjuvant Endocrine Therapy: A Systematic Review

“…One may perceive that the intensity of exercise involved in the intervention could be a factor for the discrepancies observed, as evidenced by the difference in the effect of a home-based walking program and a program combining resistance and aerobic exercises on joint pain [35,38]. However, as reported in a recent meta-analysis, interventions involving different types of exercises were consistently shown to reduce pain, fatigue and insomnia among patients of various cancer types [54]. This finding prompts that intensity of exercise involved in an intervention is unlikely to have affected intervention effectiveness.…”

Pain, fatigue and depression symptom cluster in survivors of prostate cancer

“…Both pharmacological and non-pharmacological treatments and/or interventions have been shown to be effective for the components of the cluster. Pain can be treated using resistance exercise techniques and medications [43,44]. Mood disorders, including depression, can be treated using medication and a variety of psychotherapies, depending on the cause [45].…”

Best-Evidence Rehabilitation for Chronic Pain Part 2: Pain during and after Cancer Treatment

“…Frist, Nakano et al published the most recent meta-analysis limited to RCTs using the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire-C30 (EORTC-QLQ-C30) [39] (Table 1, Section 4. General exercise therapy).…”

“…The meta-analysis showed that pain in the intervention group (receiving aerobic and/or resistance exercises) was significantly lower compared to no intervention. However, the effect size was only small (SMD of −0.17 (95%CI, −0.32 to 0.03)) and no differences among the 3 types of exercises interventions could be extracted [39]. Second, two Cochrane reviews of Mishra et al summarized the effectiveness of exercise interventions on health-related quality of life, including pain, during active cancer treatment [34] and in cancer survivors [33], respectively (Table 1, Section 4.…”