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Effect of exercise interventions in adults with cancer receiving palliative care: a systematic review and meta-analysis

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Abstract

Purpose

Previous publications showed the effectiveness of exercise in adults with cancer receiving palliative care, but evidence for palliative care research on exercise is lacking. The purpose is to examine the effects of an exercise intervention on exercise capacity, physical function, and patient-reported outcome measures in adults with cancer receiving palliative care.

Methods

We searched databases including EMBASE, PubMed, and Web of Science from inception until 2021. We used the Cochrane criteria to assess the risk of bias within studies. Using RevMan, mean difference (MD) and 95% confidence intervals or standardized mean difference (SMD) and 95% confidence intervals were calculated.

Results

A total of 14 studies and 1034 adults with cancer receiving palliative care are included in this systematic review and meta-analysis. Half of the studies were deemed to have high risk of bias. All of the interventions used aerobic and/or resistance exercises. The results indicated that exercise interventions significantly improved exercise capacity (mean difference: 46.89; 95% confidence interval: 4.51 to 89.26; Z = 2.17; P = 0.03), pain (standardized mean difference: − 0.29; 95% confidence interval: − 0.54 to − 0.03; Z = 2.18; P = 0.03), fatigue (standardized mean difference: − 0.48; 95% confidence interval: − 0.83 to − 0.12; Z = 2.66; P = 0.008), and quality of life (standardized mean difference: 0.23; 95% confidence interval: 0.02 to 0.43; Z = 2.12; P = 0.03).

Conclusion

Exercise training, with aerobic exercise, resistance exercise, or combined aerobic and resistance exercise, helps to maintain or improve exercise capacity, pain, fatigue, and quality of life in adults with cancer receiving palliative care.

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Data Availability

The datasets generated during and/or analysed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Health Sciences, Dokuz Eylül University, İzmir, Turkey

    Aylin Tanriverdi

  2. Faculty of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation, Dokuz Eylül University, Mithatpaşa Street No. 1606, 35330, İzmir, Turkey

    Aylin Tanriverdi, Buse Ozcan Kahraman, Didem Karadibak & Sema Savci

  3. Department of Physiotherapy and Rehabilitation, İzmir Bakırçay University, İzmir, Turkey

    Gulbin Ergin

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Contributions

All authors made a substantial contribution to the design of the study. B. O. K. and G. E. led the literature search. A. T. and B. O. K. reviewed the studies for risk of bias. A. T. performed the data extraction and analysis. D. K. and S. S. helped with the interpretation of data. All authors participated in the writing of manuscript. RevMan file and other materials from this study can be found from the corresponding author on request.

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Correspondence to Aylin Tanriverdi.

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Tanriverdi, A., Ozcan Kahraman, B., Ergin, G. et al. Effect of exercise interventions in adults with cancer receiving palliative care: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Support Care Cancer 31, 205 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-023-07655-0

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