Relationship of exercise to quality of life in cancer patients beginning chemotherapy

Abstract

Context: Cancer diagnosis and treatment, particularly chemotherapy, has well-established adverse effects on individuals. Exercise has been found to confer benefits to patients, although the current evidence base is limited primarily to patients assessed during or after treatment. Although exercise has been a target of intervention efforts, its relationship to quality of life in patients about to begin chemotherapy has not fully been examined.

Objectives: To examine the relationship of pre-treatment exercise rates to patient's quality of life.

Methods: One hundred ninety-two adults diagnosed with Stages I-IV cancer and Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status ≤ 2, provided data on exercise, distress (anxiety and depression), and health-related quality of life prior to their initial chemotherapy infusion.

Results: As predicted, higher rates of exercise activity were associated with lower levels of anxiety and depression, and better overall mental and physical quality of life. These relationships were independent of demographic variables (i.e., body mass index and age) also associated with quality of life in the present analyses.

Conclusion: These findings further highlight the importance of assessing exercise before the start of chemotherapy as part of broader efforts to link patients to appropriate interventions aimed at enhancing quality of life. Findings also raise the possibility that assessing exercise rates could be useful in matching patients to the type of intervention most likely to benefit them. Future research should use prospective longitudinal designs to further explore this association.