Effects of Resistance Exercise on Symptoms, Physical Function, and Quality of Life in Gastrointestinal Cancer Patients Undergoing Chemotherapy

Abstract

This research aimed to investigate the effects of resistance exercise on symptoms, physical function, and quality of life (QoL) in gastrointestinal cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy. Patients were quasi-randomly divided into the resistance exercise group and the relaxation control group, and machine-based resistance exercise was performed twice a week for 12 weeks under the guidance of experienced therapists. The QoL of patients was analyzed by EORTC-QLQ-C30. Resistance exercise training significantly reduced the incidences of lack of energy (inter-group P = .011), nausea (inter-group P = .007), acid reflux (inter-group P = .042), and back pain (inter-group P = .0009). Twelve weeks of resistance exercise training significantly elevated the muscular strength of leg press (inter-group P = .021) and leg extension (inter-group P = .041), and the muscular endurance of leg press (inter-group P = .005). The participants’ performance in 6-m fast walk (inter-group P = .008), 6-m backwards walk (inter-group P = .016), and chair rise (inter-group P = .031) were dramatically improved. Fatigue (inter-group P = .024) and appetite loss (inter-group P = .012) in the resistance exercise group were significantly lower than the relaxation control group. In conclusion, the beneficial effects of resistance exercise on symptoms, physical function and QoL in gastrointestinal cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy were demonstrated. Resistance exercise training reduced the incidences of nausea and acid reflux, improved physical function, and alleviated fatigue and appetite loss in gastrointestinal cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy.

Evaluation of quality of life of gastrointestinal cancer patients presenting to a tertiary care hospital in Pakistan

“…Among the five functioning scales, physical functioning was the most commonly affected area in our patients with a mean score of 75.63 ± 1.83 which is comparable to the scores from the international data on GI cancers which ranges from 60 to 92 [ 19 – 23 ]. This high variability is likely due to the variable stage of disease and the mode of treatment.…”

“…The mean global QOL score was 65.48 ± 1.78. Our Global QOL score was found to be comparable to international studies on GI cancer patients ranging from (55-76.8) [19][20][21][22]. When we compared our global QOL score with other studies on Pakistani population, we observe a better score in our GI cancer patients as compared to patients with blood cancer (25.95), breast cancer (48.33) and with different combination of cancer on chemotherapy (57.37) [9][10][11].…”

“…This high variability is likely due to the variable stage of disease and the mode of treatment. Lowest reported scoring scale among functioning scale is variable in literature: social functioning in Japan [ 21 ], role functioning in Sweden and China [ 19 , 22 ] and emotional scale in Columbia and the USA [ 20 , 23 ]. Due to inadequate infrastructure and limited expertise in minimally invasive approach to deal with cancer patients, open surgery is the main option for GI cancer surgery.…”

Efficacy of resistance training during adjuvant chemotherapy and radiation therapy in cancer care: a systematic review and meta-analysis

“…PEDro scores ranged from 4 to 7. The majority of included studies were good quality with low risk of bias (score>6, 83%) [25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38][39][40], whilst three studies were fair quality (score 4-5, 17%) [41][42][43][44]. Funnel plots indicate that publication bias cannot be ruled out (see Figure 2).…”

The Effect of Chronic Exercise on Energy and Fatigue States: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Trials

“…There is a limited amount of evidence for efficacy of multidimensional treatment modalities for fatigue when PA is combined with drug or cognitive-behavioral therapy ( Fillion et al, 2008 ; Miller and Soundy, 2017 ). Rehabilitation programs based on increased PA alone have demonstrated a moderate effect on fatigue in patients with multiple sclerosis ( Asano and Finlayson, 2014 ) during and following cancer treatment ( Dimeo et al, 1999 ; Puetz and Herring, 2012 ; Meneses-Echávez et al, 2015 ; Hong et al, 2020 ) as well as small effects on people with Lyme disease ( D’Adamo et al, 2015 ). However, not all studies show clear positive effects and many investigations have been marred by methodological shortcomings ( Neill et al, 2006 ; Braam et al, 2016 ).…”