Table 1.
Characteristics of Studies Included in the Meta-Analysis.
| Study | QoL Measurea |
Exercise Duration (Minutes) |
Exercise Intensityb |
Length of Intervention |
Frequency (Times/Week) |
Exercise Type | Participant Age |
Time Since Diagnosis (Months) |
Cancer Stage(s) | Exercise During or Post Cancer Treatment |
Supervised Exercise? |
Total PEDro Quality Scorec |
Social Interaction Mentioned as Intentional Component of Intervention? |
Unique Contribution of Social Functioning QoL |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Group Format Interventions | ||||||||||||||
| Cadmus et al., 2009 YES Study | QoL: FACT B | 30 | m-h | 24 | 5 | participant can choose activity, most choose walking | 55.8 | 45 | 0-IIIa | post | yes | 7 | no | not reported |
| Campbell et al., 2005 | QoL: FACT G | 15 | m-h | 12 | 2 | biking; circuits; dance/aerobics; resistance training; walking | 47.5 | 1 | ? | during | yes | 3 | mentioned post hoc | not reported |
| Herrero et al., 2006 | QoL: EORTC | 90 | h | 8 | 3 | cycle ergometer; resistance | 50.5 | ? | I - II | post | yes | 5 | no | not reported |
| Kolden et al., 2002 | QoL: FACT G | 60 | h | 16 | 3 | biking; dance; step and other aerobics; walking | 55.3 | - | I, II, III | most during | yes | n/a | no | some improvement; some no change |
| Mutrie et al., 2007 | QoL: FACT G | 45 | m-h | 12 | 3 | aerobics; circuits; cycling; resistance training; walking | 51.6 | 5.4 | 0, I, II, III | during | yes | 7 | mentioned post hoc | improvement |
| Ohira et al., 2006 | CARES-SF | ? | ? | 24 | 2 | resistance training | 53.1 | 22.5 | DCIS, I, II, III | post | yes | 7 | yes | improvement |
| Pinto et al., 2003 | POMS total mood disurbance | 50 | m | 12 | 3 | arm/leg ergometers; arm cycling; rowing; stationary biking; walking | 52.5 | 15.1 | 0, I, II | post | yes | 4 | no | not reported |
| Sandel et al., 2005 | QoL: FACT B | 56 | ? | 12 | 1.5 | dance/aerobics | 59.6 | ? | ? | both | yes | 6 | yes | not reported |
| Schulz et al., 1998 | SF-36 Mental Health subscale of Mental Health domain | 90 | ? | 10 | 2 | gymnastics and games; running | 53.9 | ? | ? | ? | ? | n/a | yes | improvement |
| Segal et al., 2001 | QoL: FACT G | ? | l-m | 26 | 5 | walking | 50.9 | 1 | I, II | during | yes | 4 | no | no change |
| Turner et al., 2004 | QoL: FACT B | 50 | h | 8 | 3 | aerobics; ergometers; water exercise | 47 | 17 | ? | post | yes | n/a | mentioned post hoc | not reported |
| Individual Format Interventions | - | - | ||||||||||||
| Cadmus et al., 2009 IMPACT Study | QoL: FACT B | 30 | m-h | 24 | 5 | participant can choose activity, most choose walking | 54.3 | 1.2 | 0-IIIa | during | no | 7 | - | - |
| Courneya et al., 2003 | QoL: FACT G | 35 | h | 15 | 3 | biking | 59 | ? | I, IIa, IIb, IIIa | post | yes | 8 | - | - |
| Hughes et al., 2008 | SF-36 Menal Health domain | 60 | ? | 10 | ? | stationary bike; walking; exercise tailored to each participant | 50 | 61.3 | I, II, III, IV, some participants did not know | post | no | n/a | - | - |
| Kramer, 1996 | Quality of life index for patients with cancer | 45 | m-h | 12 | 3 | walking | ? | ? | I, II | both | no | n/a | - | - |
| McKenzie & Kalda, 2003 | SF-36 Mental Health domain | 20 | ? | 8 | 3 | arm cycle ergometers; resistance training | 56.6 | ? | I, II | post | yes | 4 | - | - |
| Pinto et al., 2005 | POMS total mood disturbance | 30 | m | 12 | 5 | participants choose activity (e.g., biking; swimming; walking) | 53.1 | 22 | 0, I, II | post | no | 5 | - | - |
| Schwartz, 1999 | Quality of Life Index for patients with Cancer | 22.5 | l-m | 8 | 3.5 | ? | 47 | 1 | I, II, III, IV | during | no | n/a | - | - |
Notes:
FACT-G = Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy – General; FACT-B = Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy for patients with Breast cancer (includes FACT-G in all studies included in this meta-analysis); WHOQOL-BREF = World Health Organization Quality of Life instrument, short form; EORTC QLQ-C30 =The European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire; SF-36 = The Short Form (36) Health Survey; CARES-SF = The Cancer Rehabilitation Evaluation System – Short Form; POMS = Profile of Mood States.
Exercise intensity abbreviations as follows: “l” = low; “m” = moderate; “h” = hard.
Total PEDro Score is out of 8; two of the usually included items were not applicable to behavioral interventions such as physical activity interventions (these were the items assessing the blinding of participants and the blinding of therapists conducting the interventions).
“?” indicates that the data were not reported by study authors.
“-” indicates that the data was not appropriate for coding for the meta-analysis