Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Agreement between telerehabilitation involving caregivers and face-to-face clinical assessment of lymphedema in breast cancer survivors

  • Original Article
  • Published:
Supportive Care in Cancer Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Lymphedema is a lifetime complication of breast cancer survivors that can limit their participation in recreational or strenuous daily activities. Follow-up of lymphedema using an Internet application could help patients to determine the influence on their condition of these activities and adapt them accordingly. We aimed to determine the level of agreement between lymphedema assessment by telerehabilitation and by the traditional face-to-face method. Thirty breast cancer survivors participated in a descriptive study of repeated measures using a crossover design. Patients attended a session for clinical face-to-face and real-time online telerehabilitation assessments of lymphedema. There was a 120-min interval between these two sessions. The order of sessions was randomly selected for each patient. A caregiver (relative or friend) conducted the telerehabilitation assessment using a system that includes a specific tool based on an arm diagram for measuring the participant's arm circumferences via a telehealth application. All outcome measures showed reliability estimates (α) ≥ 0.90; the lowest reliability was obtained for the total volume on the non-affected side (α = 0.90). The diagnosis of lymphedema by the two methods also showed good inter-rater reliability (Rho = 0.89). These preliminary findings support the use of an Internet-based system to assess lymphedema in breast cancer survivors, offering carers a useful role in helping patients to follow up this lifetime health problem.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Pusic AL, Cemal Y, Albornoz C et al (2013) Quality of life among breast cancer patients with lymphedema: a systematic review of patient-reported outcome instruments and outcomes. J Cancer Surviv 7:83–92

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  2. Huang H, Zhou J, Zeng Q (2012) Secondary lymphoedema after breast cancer surgery: a survival analysis. Int J Nurs Pract 18:589–594

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. Paskett ED, Dean JA, Oliveri JM, Harrop JP (2012) Cancer-related lymphedema risk factors, diagnosis, treatment, and impact: a review. J Clin Oncol 30:3726–3733

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. Shih YC, Xu Y, Cormier JN et al (2009) Incidence, treatment costs, and complications of lymphedema after breast cancer among women of working age: a 2-year follow-up study. J Clin Oncol 27:2007–2014

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  5. National Lymphedema Network (2011) The diagnosis and treatment of lymphedema. http://www.lymphnet.org/pdfDocs/nlntreatment.pdf. Accessed 6 March 2013

  6. Penha TR, Ijsbrandy C, Hendrix NA et al (2013) Microsurgical techniques for the treatment of breast cancer-related lymphedema: a systematic review. J Reconstr Microsurg 29:99–106

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  7. Omar MT, Shaheen AA, Zafar H (2012) A systematic review of the effect of low-level laser therapy in the management of breast cancer-related lymphedema. Support Care Cancer 20:2977–2984

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  8. Jeffs E, Wiseman T (2012) Randomised controlled trial to determine the benefit of daily home-based exercise in addition to self-care in the management of breast cancer-related lymphoedema: a feasibility study. Support Care Cancer, in press

  9. Faett BL, Geyer MJ, Hoffman LA, Brieza DM (2012) Design and development of a telerehabilitation self-management program for persons with chronic lower limb swelling and mobility limitations: preliminary evidence. Nurs Res Pract 2012:608059

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  10. Karges JR, Mark BE, Stikeleather SJ, Worrell TW (2003) Concurrent validity of upper-extremity volume estimates: comparison of calculated volume derived from girth measurements and water displacement volume. Phys Ther 83:134–145

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  11. Smoot BJ, Wong JF, Dodd MJ (2011) Comparison of diagnostic accuracy of clinical measures of breast cancer-related lymphedema: area under the curve. Arch Phys Med Rehabil 92:603–610

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  12. Dylke ES, Yee J, Ward LC, Foroughi L, Kilbreath SL (2012) Normative volume difference between the dominant and nondominant upper limbs in healthy older women. Lymphat Res Biol 10:182–188

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. Deltombe T, Jamart J, Recloux S et al (2007) Reliability and limits of agreement of circumferential, water displacement, and optoelectronic volumetry in the measurement of upper limb lymphedema. Lymphology 40:26–34

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  14. Fernández-Lao C, Cantarero-Villanueva I, Ariza-Garcia A et al (2013) Water versus land-based multimodal exercise program effects on body composition in breast cancer survivors: a controlled clinical trial. Support Care Cancer 21:521–530

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  15. Czerniec SA, Ward LC, Refshauge KM et al (2010) Assessment of breast cancer-related arm lymphedema–comparison of physical measurement methods and self-report. Cancer Invest 28:54–62

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  16. Sander AP, Hajer NM, Hemenway K, Miller AC (2002) Upper-extremity volume measurements in women with lymphedema: a comparison of measurements obtained via water displacement with geometrically determined volume. Phys Ther 82:1201–1212

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  17. Cabana F, Boissy P, Tousignant M et al (2010) Interrater agreement between telerehabilitation and face-to-face clinical outcome measurements for total knee arthroplasty. Telemed J E Health 16:293–298

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  18. Palsbo SE, Dawson SJ, Savard L, Goldstein M, Heuser A (2007) Televideo assesssment using Functional Reach Test and European Stroke Scale. J Rehabil Res Dev 44:659–664

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  19. Russell TG, Blumke R, Richardson B, Truter P (2010) Telerehabilitation mediated physiotherapy assessment of ankle disorders. Physiother Res Int 15:167–175

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  20. Palacín-Marín F, Esteban-Moreno B, Olea N, Herrera-Viedma E, Arroyo-Morales M (2012) Agreement between telerehabilitation and face-to-face clinical outcome assessments for low back pain in primary care. Spine (Phila Pa 1976), in press

  21. Torres Lacomba M, Yuste Sánchez MJ, Zapico Goñi A et al (2010) Effectiveness of early physiotherapy to prevent lymphoedema after surgery for breast cancer: randomised, single blinded, clinical trial. BMJ 340:b5396

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  22. Bland JM, Altman DG (1999) Measuring agreement in method comparison studies. Stat Methods Med Res 8:135–160

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  23. Steele L, Lade H, McKenzie S, Russell TG (2012) Assessment and diagnosis of musculoskeletal shoulder disorders over the Internet. Int J Telemed Appl 2012:945745

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  24. Ojea Ortega T, González Álvarez de Sotomayor MM, Pérez González O, Fernández Fernández O (2012) A new assessment for episodic memory. Episodic memory test and caregiver's episodic memory test. Neurologia, doi: 10.1016/j.nrl.2012.10.004

  25. Watermeyer J, Kanji A, Cohen A (2012) Caregiver recall and understanding of paediatric diagnostic information and assessment feedback. Int J Audiol 51:864–869

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  26. Steis MR, Evans L, Hirschman KB et al (2012) Screening for delirium using family caregivers: convergent validity of the Family Confusion Assessment Method and interviewer-rated Confusion Assessment Method. J Am Geriatr Soc 60:2121–2126

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  27. Silveira MJ, Given CW, Cease KB et al (2011) Cancer carepartners: improving patients' symptom management by engaging informal caregivers. BMC Palliat Care 10:21

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  28. Stern A, Valaitis R, Weir R, Jaddar AR (2012) Use of home telehealth in palliative cancer care: a case study. J Telemed Telecare 18:297–300

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  29. Lee TS, Kilbreath SL, Sullivan G et al (2009) Factors that affect intention to avoid strenuous arm activity after breast cancer surgery. Oncol Nurs Forum 36:454–462

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  30. Finnane A, Liu Y, Battistutta D, Janda M, Hayes SC (2011) Lymphedema after breast or gynecological cancer: use and effectiveness of mainstream and complementary therapies. J Altern Complement Med 17:867–869

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  31. Schmitz KH, Ahmed RL, Troxel AB et al (2010) Weight lifting for women at risk for breast cancer-related lymphedema: a randomized trial. JAMA 304:2699–2705

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  32. Kilbreath SL, Refshauge KM, Beith JM et al (2012) Upper limb progressive resistance training and stretching exercises following surgery for early breast cancer: a randomized controlled trial. Breast Cancer Res Treat 133:667–676

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

The study was funded by a research project grant (FIS PI10/02749-02764) from the Health Institute Carlos III and PN I+D+I 2008–2011, a grant (Program FPU AP2010-6075) from Education Ministry, Madrid, Spanish Government and a grant of Andalusian Health Service, Junta de Andalucia (PI-0457-2010).

Conflict of interest

None declared

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Health Sciences, Physical Therapy Department, University of Granada, Avda. Madrid s/n, 18071, Granada, Spain

    N. Galiano-Castillo, A. Ariza-García, I. Cantarero-Villanueva, C. Fernández-Lao & M. Arroyo-Morales

  2. Health Andalusian Service, University Hospital San Cecilio, Granada, Spain

    A. Ariza-García

  3. Breast Oncology Unit, Virgen de las Nieves Hospital, Granada, Spain

    C. Sánchez-Salado

Authors
  1. N. Galiano-Castillo
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. A. Ariza-García
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. I. Cantarero-Villanueva
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. C. Fernández-Lao
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. C. Sánchez-Salado
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. M. Arroyo-Morales
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to M. Arroyo-Morales.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Galiano-Castillo, N., Ariza-García, A., Cantarero-Villanueva, I. et al. Agreement between telerehabilitation involving caregivers and face-to-face clinical assessment of lymphedema in breast cancer survivors. Support Care Cancer 22, 253–258 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-013-1971-8

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-013-1971-8

Keywords

Search

Navigation