Impact of a functional-based exercise program on fatigue, quality of life, and muscular endurance in cancer patients: A pilot study

Background/Purpose: The purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of a functional-based exercise program on fatigue, quality of life, and muscular endurance in cancer patients. Methods: Eleven individuals from a Cancer Recovery & Fitness Program participated in this study. After each individual agreed to participate in the study, baseline measurements were taken for three specific muscular endurance exercises; modified biceps curl, modified sit-to-stand, and a modified chest press. Participants also filled out the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-General (FACT-G) questionnaire on perceived quality of life at baseline testing, and the Fatigue Symptom Inventory (FSI) questionnaire on perceived fatigue every week after one exercise session. After attending the six-week program, the participants were retested using the same methods. Results: Dependent (paired) sample t-tests were used to determine if there were significant differences in ME and FACT-G test scores from pretest to post test. Since multiple t-tests were being analyzed, the Bonferroni correction was used to control for Type I error, which resulted in an adjusted p-value of .0125. Fatigue was tested using a repeated-measure ANOVA. Significant differences were found in the modified biceps curl (p = .005) and modified chest press tests (p = .004). No significant differences were found for the sit-to-stand test or the FSI and FACT-G questionnaires. Conclusion: A 6-week functional-based exercise program can have a significant impact on muscular endurance with cancer survivors in the area of biceps curls and chest press. *Correspondence to: Matthew S Wiggins, Department of Kinesiology, University of WisconsinEau Claire, 105 Garfield Ave., Eau Claire WI, 54701, USA, E-mail: wigginsm@uwec.edu