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The group psychotherapy and home‐based physical exercise (group‐hope) trial in cancer survivors: Physical fitness and quality of life outcomes
Author(s) -
Courneya Kerry S.,
Friedenreich Christine M.,
Sela Rami A.,
Quinney H. Arthur,
Rhodes Ryan. E.,
Handman Michael
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
psycho‐oncology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.41
H-Index - 137
eISSN - 1099-1611
pISSN - 1057-9249
DOI - 10.1002/pon.658
Subject(s) - quality of life (healthcare) , randomized controlled trial , physical therapy , medicine , physical fitness , flexibility (engineering) , repeated measures design , analysis of variance , survivorship curve , cancer , gerontology , psychology , statistics , mathematics , nursing
Physical exercise has been shown to enhance quality of life (QOL) in cancer survivors using pretest–posttest designs and compared to usual care (i.e. no intervention). In the present study, we conducted a randomized controlled trial to determine if exercise could improve QOL in cancer survivors beyond the known benefits of group psychotherapy (GP). We matched 22 GP classes (N=108) on content and then randomly assigned 11 ( n =48) to GP alone and 11 ( n =60) to GP plus home‐based, moderate‐intensity exercise (GP+EX). Participants completed a physical fitness test and QOL measures (e.g. Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy scales) at the beginning and end of GP classes (about 10 weeks). We had excellent recruitment (81%), retention (89%), and adherence (84%) rates and a modest contamination (22%) rate. Using intention‐to‐treat repeated measures analyses of variance, we found significant Time by Condition interactions for functional well‐being, fatigue, and sum of skinfolds. We also found borderline significant interactions for physical well‐being, satisfaction with life, and flexibility. All interactions favored the GP+EX condition. We conclude that a home‐based, moderate intensity exercise program may im‐prove QOL in cancer survivors beyond the benefits of GP, particularly in relation to physical and functional well‐being. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.