Department of Physiotherapy, Father Muller Medical College, Mangaluru, Karnataka, India.
Department of Medical Oncology, Father Muller Medical College, Mangaluru, Karnataka, India.
Asian Pac J Cancer Prev. 2023 Jun 1;24(6):1987-1992. doi: 10.31557/APJCP.2023.24.6.1987.
Anticancer therapies causes decreased respiratory function, quality of life and functional capacity in head and neck cancer patients. Patients receiving these cancer therapies suffer from fatigue which causes decrease in functional capacity and quality of life. The objective of this present study was to determine and compare the effect of exercise training on fatigue, functional capacity and quality of life in head and neck cancer patients receiving various anticancer therapies.
A total of 45 subjects were included based on inclusion and exclusion criteria. 6-minute walk test, brief fatigue inventory (BFI) and functional assessment of cancer therapy- general (FACT-G) was used to measure the functional capacity, fatigue and quality of life respectively at baseline and post intervention. Participants received exercise intervention for six weeks (three days a week) for 40 min. Exercise intervention is delivered by a qualified physiotherapist from the Department of Physiotherapy.
The result of this study shows that there was highly significant improvement in six-minute walk distance pre and post intervention in chemotherapy (33.75+21.55, p=0.000), radiation therapy (39.69+25.46, p=0.000) and chemoradiotherapy (32.06+16.49, p=0.000) within the group. Similarly, significant improvement was also seen in quality of life within the groups, chemotherapy (2.92+2.43, p=0.002), radiation therapy (6.06+3.13, p=0.000) and chemo radiotherapy (5.65+6.93, p=0.004). There was significant reduction in fatigue in chemotherapy (6.92+11.07, p=0.045), radiation therapy (12.38+7.28, p=0.000) and chemo radiotherapy (11.47+8.89, p=0.000). No significant improvement was noted between the groups for six- minute walk distance (p=0.784), quality of life (p= 0.058) and reduction in fatigue (p=0.065).
This study concluded that exercise training is effective in improving functional capacity, quality of life and reducing fatigue in head and neck cancer patients receiving various anticancer therapies.
癌症治疗会导致头颈部癌症患者的呼吸功能、生活质量和功能能力下降。接受这些癌症治疗的患者会感到疲劳，从而导致功能能力和生活质量下降。本研究的目的是确定并比较运动训练对头颈部癌症患者在接受各种癌症治疗时的疲劳、功能能力和生活质量的影响。
根据纳入和排除标准，共纳入 45 名受试者。使用 6 分钟步行试验、简短疲劳量表（BFI）和癌症治疗功能评估-一般（FACT-G）分别在基线和干预后测量功能能力、疲劳和生活质量。参与者接受为期六周（每周三天）的 40 分钟运动干预。运动干预由理疗系的合格物理治疗师提供。
本研究结果表明，化疗（33.75+21.55，p=0.000）、放疗（39.69+25.46，p=0.000）和放化疗（32.06+16.49，p=0.000）组的 6 分钟步行距离在干预前后均有显著提高。同样，各组的生活质量也有显著改善，化疗组（2.92+2.43，p=0.002）、放疗组（6.06+3.13，p=0.000）和放化疗组（5.65+6.93，p=0.004）。化疗组（6.92+11.07，p=0.045）、放疗组（12.38+7.28，p=0.000）和放化疗组（11.47+8.89，p=0.000）的疲劳感显著降低。各组之间 6 分钟步行距离（p=0.784）、生活质量（p=0.058）和疲劳感降低（p=0.065）无显著差异。
本研究表明，运动训练对头颈部癌症患者在接受各种癌症治疗时，能有效提高功能能力、生活质量和减轻疲劳。
