Hacker 2011.

Study characteristics
Methods	Study design: RCT Number randomized: 22, but 2 did not have a transplant and 1 did not have baseline data. The author reported that 19 individuals were randomized, 9 to the exercise group and 10 to the control group Study start and stop dates: not reported Length of intervention: 6 weeks Length of follow‐up: to end of the intervention
Participants	Type cancer: hematologic malignancies Time since cancer diagnosis: not reported Time in active treatment: all receiving an HSCT Inclusion criteria: patients scheduled to receive an HSCT ability to speak English ability to comprehend the purpose of the study no history of psychiatric illness treating physicians provided approval for participants to participate in the trial Eligibility criteria related to interest or ability, or both, to exercise: none reported Exclusion criteria: none reported Gender, n: male, 14; female, 5 Current age, mean (SD, range) years: 46.26 (16.23, 20 to 67) years Age at cancer diagnosis: not reported Ethnicity/race, n: African Americans, 11; white, 7; Hispanic, 1 Education level, n: completed some college as their highest level of education, 10 SES, n: income level < USD40,000, 10 Employment status: not reported Comorbidities: not reported Past exercise history: not reported On hormone therapy: not reported
Interventions	9 participants assigned to the exercise intervention, including: progressive strength‐training intervention, including a comprehensive program of progressive resistance to strengthen the upper body, lower body, and abdominal muscles using elastic resistance bands (Thera‐Bands; Hygenic Corp) if able, and body weight for resistance. Progression of the exercise prescription was structured to first increase the number of sets from 1 to 2 sets of 8 to 10 repetitions and then to increase the resistance level of elastic bands. Preselected exercises with concentric and eccentric muscle contractions included: 8 exercises using elastic resistance bands (chest fly, biceps curl, triceps extension, shoulder shrug, shoulder upright row, shoulder lateral raise, knee flexion, and knee extension) 3 exercises that used body weight as resistance (wall push‐ups, squats, and bed sit‐ups) Type exercise (aerobic/anaerobic): anaerobic Intensity of the experimental exercise intervention: Borg RPE scale of somewhat hard (Borg scale 13) Frequency: 3 times per week, once or twice at the clinic and once or twice at home Duration of individual sessions: varied Duration of exercise program: 6 weeks Total number of exercise sessions: 18 sessions Format: individual Facility: facility and home Professionally led: unsupervised and supervised by the principal investigator or a trained member of the research team Adherence: by week 2, all participants in the strength‐training group exercised at least once or twice per week, and most met the strength‐training prescription of exercising 3 times per week by week 3. All of the participants exercised at least once or twiceper week for at least 5 of the 6 weeks 10 participants assigned to control group, including: usual activities recommendations regarding rest, physical activity, and exercise from their attending HSCT physician request not to exercise Contamination of control group: not reported
Outcomes	No primary outcome was identified. QoL outcomes included: fatigue, assessed using a 1‐item fatigue intensity scale and the fatigue subscale of the QLQ‐C30 Health Status Perceptions, assessed using the QLQ‐C30 and including: global HRQoL physical emotional role cognitive social symptoms (fatigue, pain, nausea/vomiting) single‐item questions (appetite loss, constipation, dyspnea, diarrhea, financial stress, and sleep disturbances) Life Satisfaction, assessed using the Ferrans and Powers QLI and subscales, including: global HRQoL health and functioning psychological/spiritual social and economic family Other outcomes included: physical activity, measured using a wrist‐worn accelerometer, the Actiwatch‐Score (Phillips Respironics) muscle strength consisting of timed stair climb, handgrip strength, 30‐s chair‐stand, time needed to stand up from bed rest examination Outcomes were measured at baseline, 8 days after transplant (second baseline), and 6 weeks after discharge from the hospital: exercise group: n = 9 at baseline, n = 8 at 8 days, n = 8 at 6 weeks control group: n = 10 at baseline, n = 9 at 8 days, n = 7 at 6 weeks Subgroup analysis: none Adverse events: 2 participants, 1 each from the exercise and control groups died during the course of the trial as a result of their underlying medical condition
Notes	Country: US Funding: National Institutes of Health/National Institute of Nursing Research
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 conceal allocation to the intervention from the participants
Blinding of outcome assessment (detection bias) All outcomes	High risk	Allocation to the intervention was not concealed from the study personnel
Incomplete outcome data (attrition bias) All outcomes	High risk	Analyses were not conducted on an ITT basis and the treatment of missing data was not described. There was substantial attrition from the trial, especially in the intervention arm
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