Feasibility And Participant Satisfaction Of A 6-week Virtual Exercise Program For Breast Cancer Survivors Receiving Endocrine Therapy Treatments

Abstract

To determine if (1) measured VO2P from BW and CANCER protocols differ and (2) if predictive VO2P equations for the BW are accurate for testing cardiovascular fitness in cancer survivors. METHODS: Thirty-four subjects participated in the study. Subjects completed the CANCER and BW protocols one week apart in randomized order. Measured VO2P was obtained from gas analysis using a research grade metabolic cart. Predicted VO2P was calculated using BW prediction equations from the completed BW gas analysis test. A paired samples t-test was used to test for significance (p < 0.05) for both comparisons. RESULTS: All subjects completed the CANCER protocol, but one subject could not complete the BW. No significant differences were found in VO2P values (mL•kg-1 •min-1) between CANCER (28.1 ± 0.65) and BW (26.3 ± 0.76) (p = 0.192). Significant differences were found between predicted and actual VO2P from the BW protocol (19.7 ± 1.33 vs. 26.3 ± 0.76, respectively) (p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Data indicates if direct gas analysis is available, BW appropriately determines VO2P in cancer survivors. However, if direct gas analysis is unavailable, BW predictive VO2P equations significantly underestimate VO2P in cancer survivors. The CANCER protocol provides accurate VO2P values with or without a metabolic cart. Therefore, in a clinical setting where using direct gas analysis may not be practical, the CANCER protocol remains the current gold standard for assessing cardiovascular fitness in cancer survivors.