| Study characteristics |
| Methods |
RCT; 2 groups, stratification by type of adjuvant cancer therapy |
| Participants |
119 breast cancer patients post‐surgery prior to any other adjuvant therapy. Exercising less than 45 mins per week |
| Interventions |
Exercise: home‐based walking programme during treatment. 5 to 6 times/week at ~50% to 70% HRmax. 15 mins per session initially increasing to 30 mins. Booklet and video provided. Contacted fortnightly.
Control: no intervention |
| Outcomes |
Fatigue
Physical function
12‐min walk
Activity levels |
| Notes |
Methodological quality score: 3
Main purpose of exercise: to reduce fatigue |
| Risk of bias |
| Bias |
Authors' judgement |
Support for judgement |
| Random sequence generation (selection bias) |
Low risk |
"computer‐generated randomization assignments" |
| Allocation concealment (selection bias) |
Low risk |
"Consecutively numbered sealed opaque envelopes...were prepared at the co‐ordinating centre and opened at the site following baseline testing for each participant." |
| Blinding of outcome assessment (detection bias)
All outcomes |
High risk |
Blinding not done |
| Incomplete outcome data (attrition bias)
All outcomes |
Low risk |
All participants were accounted for |
| Selective reporting (reporting bias) |
Low risk |
Fatigue outcome reported |
