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. 2012 Aug 15;2012(8):CD007566. doi: 10.1002/14651858.CD007566.pub2

Targ 2002.

Study characteristics
Methods Study design: RCT
Number randomized: 181; 93 to the exercise group and 88 to the control group
Study start and stop dates: not reported
Length of intervention: 12 weeks
Length of follow‐up: to end of the intervention
Participants Type cancer: breast cancer, Stage, n (%)

  • exercise group: Stage I, 31 (39%); Stage II, 35 (43%); Stage III, 5 (6%); Stage IV, 5 (6%); missing, 3 (4%)

  • control group: Stage I, 16 (32%); Stage II, 26 (52%); Stage III, 7 (14%); Stage IV, 2 (4%); missing, 5 (10%)


Time since cancer diagnosis: within 18 months of diagnosis
Time beyond active treatment: not reported, but some women were on chemotherapy, n (%):

  • exercise group: 42 (54%)

  • control group: 24 (48%)


 Inclusion criteria:

  • 26 to 78 years old

  • within 18 months of initial diagnosis of primary breast cancer or metastatic breast cancer


Eligibility criterion related to interest or ability to exercise, or both: none reported
Exclusion criteria: none reported
Gender: female
Current age, mean (SD) years:

  • exercise group: 49 (8.6) years

  • control group: 47 (8.8) years


Age at cancer diagnosis: not reported
Ethnicity/race, n (%):

  • exercise group: Asian, 8 (11%); Hispanic, 1 (1%); African‐American, 4 (5%); Caucasian, 62 (83%)

  • control group: Asian, 2 (4%); Hispanic, 1 (2%); African‐American, 4 (8%); Caucasian, 41 (85%)


Education level, n (%):

  • exercise group: less than 8th grade, 1 (1%); some high school, 1 (1%); high school graduate, 0 (0%); some college, 13 (16%); college graduate, 22 (28%); postdoctorate study, 42 (53%)

  • control group: less than 8th grade, 0 (0%); some high school, 0 (0%); high school graduate, 0 (0%); some college, 7 (14%); college graduate, 9 (18%); postdoctorate study, 34 (68%)


SES, income, n (%):

  • exercise group: < USD15,000, 6 (8%); USD15,000 to USD29,000, 9 (12%); USD30,000 to USD44,000, 10 (13%); USD45,000 to USD49,000, 17 (22%); > USD50,000, 36 (46%)

  • control group: < USD15,000, 2 (4%); USD15,000 to USD29,000, 5 (10%); USD30,000 to USD44,000, 9 (18%); USD45,000 to USD49,000, 5 (10%); > USD50,000, 28 (57%)


Employment status: not reported
Comorbidities: not reported
Past exercise history, number of days spent exercising and minutes of exercise, mean (SD) days and minutes:

  • exercise group: 4.16 (1.82) days and 49.58 (23.09) minutes

  • control group: 4.22 (1.62) days and 51.5 (25.64) minutes


On hormone therapy, n (%):

  • exercise group: 28 (53)

  • control group: 11 (48)


Postmenopausal status, n (%):

  • exercise group: 17 (29)

  • control group: 4 (14)
Interventions 93 participants assigned to an intensive lifestyle change and group support program that included:

  • weekly Health Series discussion group, followed by a 90‐minute dance/movement program

  • weekly session consisting of silent meditation and guided imagery


Type exercise (aerobic/anaerobic): aerobic
Intensity of experimental exercise intervention: mild to moderate
Frequency: once per week
Duration of individual sessions: 90 minutes
Duration of exercise program: 12 weeks
Total number of exercise sessions: 12
Format: group
Facility: facility
Professionally led: nurse
88 participants assigned to the control group, including:

  • unstructured psycho‐educational support group


Adherence: 6 women did not attend any session, but no other adherence was noted
Contamination of control group: not reported
Outcomes Outcomes: QoL outcomes, including:

  • change in overall QoL, measured using FACIT and subscales

    • PWB

    • SWB

    • EWB

    • FWB

    • additional concerns

  • change in mood as measured by the POMS and subscales

    • anxiety

    • depression

    • anger

    • vigor

    • fatigue

    • confusion

  • change in spiritual function, measured using the FACIT‐Sp and the Principle of Living Survey


Outcomes were measured at baseline and at 12 weeks:

  • exercise groups: n = 93 at baseline, n = 79 at 12 weeks

  • control group: n = 88 at baseline, n = 88 at 12 weeks


Adverse events: none reported
Notes Country: US
Funding: United States Department of Defense Material Command
Risk of bias
Bias Authors' judgement Support for judgement
Random sequence generation (selection bias) Unclear risk The generation of the random sequence was not described
Allocation concealment (selection bias) Unclear risk Whether the treatment assignment was concealed from study personnel and participants was not described
Blinding of participants and personnel (performance bias)
All outcomes High risk Owing to the nature of the intervention, it was not possible to blind the participants; however, it is unclear whether the outcome was influenced by a lack of masking
Blinding of outcome assessment (detection bias)
All outcomes High risk Study personnel and outcome assessors were not masked or blinded to the study interventions
Incomplete outcome data (attrition bias)
All outcomes Unclear risk Although it was stated that an ITT analysis was performed, there were 7 women who dropped out in the intervention group and 24 in the control group and an additional 27 who did not attend any session and were not included in the analyses
Selective reporting (reporting bias) Low risk There appears to be no selective reporting of outcomes
Other bias Low risk The trial appears to be free of other problems that could put it at a high risk of bias