Identifying predictive motor factors for falls in post-menopausal breast cancer survivors

Abstract

ObjectiveBreast cancer treatment, including radical surgery, is also pursued as late as the 7th - 8th decade of women’s lives. Standard physical rehabilitation procedures offered to those women are predominantly focused on attenuating specific functional deficits of the upper limb and trunk. Seldom do they entail any regimens specifically aimed at recovering overall functionality, and reducing exposure to falls-risk.The study aimed to assess potential interrelationships between the self-reported falls, individual functional capabilities and appreciably reducing exposure to falls-risk in a group of post-menopausal, post-surgical breast cancer survivors.MethodsThe study recruited 102 women (aged 65–79; mean age 70.2), post-surgical breast cancer survivors. The subjects were stratified by age into three groups: Group 1 (65–69 years); Group 2 (70–74 years), and Group 3 (75–79 years). Individual functional capabilities were assessed with Eight-foot up & go test (8UG), chair stand test (CST), and 2-minute step test (2ST). Tinetti POMA test was applied to assess gait and balance disorders. Self-reported falls in the past year were ascertained through a questionnaire.ResultsAssessment of individual aerobic endurance (2ST) also demonstrated a clear deficit in the mean scores category in all respective age sub-groups, as compared against the reference values. The deficits ranged from 4.86 to 15.90 steps less than the normative values; the oldest subjects demonstrating the largest deficit. The aerobic endurance tests results significantly impacted the ultimate assessment of an individual falls-risk in the oldest group. The analysis of the number of falls sustained within the recent year indicated that 43.67% of the subjects fell victim of such incidents.ConclusionAn individual exposure to falls-risk was found to be appreciably more dependent upon individual aerobic endurance rather than overall strength of the lower part of the body in the breast cancer survivors over 75.

Gait and Balance Impairments in Breast Cancer Survivors: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of Observational Studies

“… 33 , 34 The remaining 29 articles were included in the review. 11 , 12 , 14 , 35 , 36 , 37 , 38 , 39 , 40 , 41 , 42 , 43 , 44 , 45 , 46 , 47 , 48 , 49 , 50 , 51 , 52 , 53 , 54 , 55 , 56 , 57 , 58 , 59

Fig 1 Study selection flow chart of studies in the systematic review and meta-analysis.

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“…Fifteen studies were conducted in the United States, 11 , 12 , 14 , 36 , 37 , 39 , 41 , 44 , 45 , 46 , 47 , 48 , 50 , 57 , 60 2 in Finland, 40 , 43 and 2 in Turkey. 35 , 51 For study design, 11 studies were cross-sectional, 35 , 37 , 38 , 40 , 42 , 43 , 45 , 47 , 48 , 49 , 52 11 were RCTs, 14 , 39 , 44 , 46 , 50 , 51 , 54 , 55 , 57 , 58 , 59 and 3 were pre-post. 11 , 36 , 60 Six studies included a control group who had never had breast cancer.…”

Effectiveness of specific types of structured physical activities in the rehabilitation of post-mastectomy women: a systematic review

“…Such a gold-standard should be developed, while making due allowances for patients' age stratification as well as provide a possibility of broad assessment of potential adverse events, e.g. falls-risk [27].…”

Influence of surgical treatment of selected malignant tumours on gait kinematics – a pilot study

“…The most common malignant tumour in women is breast cancer. damage to anatomical structures during surgery may contribute to upper body quadrant dysfunctions [5,6]. disturbances of chest wall muscle balance and the resulting disorders of postural muscle balance may lead to postural defects -deepening of thoracic kyphosis and lumbar lordosis, which may in turn contribute to the occurrence of low back pain [7].…”

“…A disturbed gait pattern Physiother Quart 2018, 26 (4) physiotherapyquarterly.pl may not only limit the efficiency of walking and cause increase in energy expenditure, but also result in secondary, incorrect compensatory reactions that can be fixed [13,14]. Therefore, it is important to take appropriate measures to detect possible functional disorders, which in turn contribute to a greater risk of falls [6], particularly in elderly people [15]. Gait is considered to be one of the most reliable parameters reflecting the patient's overall condition and a factor predicting safe movement in daily life [15].…”