Mock 1994.

Study characteristics
Methods	Study design: RCT Number randomized: 14; 9 to the exercise group and 5 to the control group Study start and stop dates: not reported Length of intervention: duration of chemotherapy (4 to 6 months) Length of follow‐up: 1 month postchemotherapy
Participants	Type cancer: breast cancer Time since cancer diagnosis: not reported Time in active treatment: enrolled prior to beginning chemotherapy Inclusion criteria: age 30 to 69 years able to understand English accepted into a program of adjuvant cytotoxic chemotherapy Stage I or II breast cancer Eligibility criteria related to interest or ability, or both, to exercise: "Before entering the program, subjects were questioned about whether they engaged in a regular exercise program and were screened for health problems that would contraindicate beginning such a program" Exclusion criteria: history of previous breast cancer concurrent major health problems (e.g. gross obesity, cardiovascular disease, respiratory disease, cognitive dysfunction) Gender: female Current age: mean (range), 44 (34 to 61) years Age at cancer diagnosis: not reported Ethnicity/race: 93% Caucasian, 7% Other Education level: mean years of education, 16 years SES: not reported Employment status: 78% employed Comorbidities: not reported Past exercise history: not reported On hormone therapy: not reported
Interventions	9 participants assigned to the exercise intervention, including: progressive, regular program composed of a brisk, incremental 10‐ to 45‐minute walk followed by 5 minutes of slow walking (cool down) support group led by an oncology clinical nurse specialist: 90 minutes every 2 weeks for the duration of the chemotherapy treatments Type exercise (aerobic/anaerobic): aerobic Intensity of the experimental exercise intervention: not reported Frequency: 4 or 5 times per week Duration of individual sessions: 10 to 45 minutes and 5 minutes cool‐down Duration of exercise program: 4 to 6 months Total number of exercise sessions: varied Format: individual Facility: home Not professionally led Adherence: "...not all equally successful in maintaining an active exercise program, but all exercised for a minimum of 30 minutes three or more times per week throughout the program" 5 participants assigned to control group, including: usual care Contamination of control group: "two did not exercise at all, and three exercised less than 30 minutes twice per week"
Outcomes	No primary outcome was identified. QoL outcomes included: physical functioning, assessed using the Karnofsky Performance Status scale psychosocial adjustment, assessed using Psychosocial Adjustment to Illness Scale Brief Symptom Inventory self concept, assessed using the total score of the Tennessee Self‐Concept Scale body image, using Body Image VAS Physical Self Subscale of the Tennessee Self‐Concept Scale symptom intensity, assessed using Symptoms Assessment Scales Outcomes were measured at baseline, mid‐treatment (about 3 months), and end of the intervention (about 6 months): exercise group: n = 9 at baseline, n = 9 at 3 months, n = 9 at 6 months control group: n = 5 at baseline n = 5 at 3 months, n = 5 at 6 months Subgroup analysis: none Adverse events: "No walkers suffered any known physical injury or bleeding episode related to the walking program"
Notes	Country: US Funding: American Cancer Society—Massachusetts Division, American Nurses Foundation, Massachusetts Nurses Foundation, Boston College
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	Study personnel and outcome assessors were not masked or blinded to the study interventions
Incomplete outcome data (attrition bias) All outcomes	Low risk	All study participants were included in the analyses in the originally assigned treatment group
Selective reporting (reporting bias)	High risk	Only some of the symptoms from the SAS were included in the table; others were summarized only using generalities in the text "infrequently"
Other bias	Low risk	The trial appears to be free of other problems that could put it at a high risk of bias