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Kinesitherapy alleviates fatigue in terminal hospice cancer patients—an experimental, controlled study

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Abstract

Purpose

The study was focused on the influence of the kinesitherapy on fatigue and the quality of life in the terminal hospice cancer patients.

Patients and methods

Forty-nine patients were included into the study and divided into experimental group A (with kinesitherapy) with 30 subjects and control group B (without kinesitherapy) with 19 subjects. Patients from group A did the exercises three times a week, for 20–30 min, for the period of 3–4 weeks. The exercises were individually supervised by a physiotherapist, following a carefully worked out pattern. In both groups, the changes in the intensity of fatigue and the quality of life were observed by means of using Rotterdam symptom checklist, brief fatigue inventory, and visual analogue fatigue scale.

Results

In group A, the intensity of fatigue decreased significantly after 3 weeks of kinesitherapy. In group B, fatigue deteriorated significantly in comparison with the initial measurement. The intensity of physical symptoms in group A decreased significantly after 2 weeks of kinesitherapy, whereas in group B, increased after 2 weeks of observation. The quality of life in group A remained stable throughout the study. A tendency towards the deterioration of the quality of life with the time passing in group B was noticeable.

Conclusion

Our analysis showed that, on average, after 3 weeks of kinesitherapy, a significant decrease of the intensity of fatigue was observed, while in the control group, it increased after 2 weeks of observation. The obtained results provide evidence that a planned set of exercises decreases cancer-related fatigue effectively.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Palliative Medicine, Medical University of Gdańsk, ul. Dębinki 2, 80-211, Gdańsk, Poland

    Tomasz Buss, Krystyna de Walden-Gałuszko, Aleksandra Modlińska, Magdalena Osowicka, Monika Lichodziejewska-Niemierko & Justyna Janiszewska

Authors
  1. Tomasz Buss
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  2. Krystyna de Walden-Gałuszko
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  3. Aleksandra Modlińska
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  4. Magdalena Osowicka
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  5. Monika Lichodziejewska-Niemierko
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  6. Justyna Janiszewska
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Correspondence to Tomasz Buss.

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Buss, T., de Walden-Gałuszko, K., Modlińska, A. et al. Kinesitherapy alleviates fatigue in terminal hospice cancer patients—an experimental, controlled study. Support Care Cancer 18, 743–749 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-009-0709-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-009-0709-0

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