Four-year effects of exercise on fatigue and physical activity in patients with cancer

Table 3 Long-term effect of exercise on fatigue and physical activity among breast cancer patients only

		Baseline		Baseline to 4 years post-intervention
		Baseline		Within-group differences	Between-group differences
		Mean	SD	Mean [95% CI]	Mean [95% CI]	Effect size
Multidimensional Fatigue Inventory (MFI)
General fatigue	I	9.28	6.08	0.13 [−1.11, 1.38]	−0.26 [− 1.65, 1.12]	0.04
General fatigue	UC	10.01	6.11	−0.48 [−1.78, 0.82]	Reference
Physical fatigue	I	9.05	6.32	−0.53 [−1.83, 0.76]	−1.05 [−2.53, 0.43]	0.17
Physical fatigue	UC	10.01	6.35	−0.33 [−1.68, 1.02]	Reference
Mental fatigue	I	9.32	6.64	0.05 [−1.24, 1.33]	−0.09 [− 1.59, 1.41]	0.01
Mental fatigue	UC	9.77	6.68	−0.28 [−1.62, 1.06]	Reference
Reduced activity	I	7.04	5.07	−0.21 [−1.21, 0.79]	0.17 [−1.02, 1.36]	0.03
Reduced activity	UC	7.62	5.09	−0.95 [−1.98, 0.09]	Reference
Reduced motivation	I	7.92	6.42	0.51 [−0.73, 1.74]	−0.20 [−1.27, 0.87]	0.03
Reduced motivation	UC	8.42	6.71	0.39 [−0.91, 1.70]	Reference
Short Questionnaire to Assess Health-enhancing physical activity (SQUASH)
Total physical activity	I UC	640.55 750.38	794.85 792.05	36.76 [− 125.46, 198.98] − 167.21 [− 336.75, 2.32]	117.70 [−40.61, 276.02] Reference	0.15
Sport and leisure physical activity	I UC	211.59 217.57	332.60 332.04	93.91 [32.33, 155.49]* 56.71 [−8.03, 121.45]	33.66 [−40.26, 107.57] Reference	0.10

I exercise intervention group, UC usual care group, SD standard deviation, CI confidence interval
*Statistically significant (p < 0.05)
Between-group effects were assessed using mixed models including the measurements obtained at 18 and 36 weeks and 4 years, adjusted for tumor receptor status and the value of the outcome variable at baseline as well as for stratification factors: age, radiotherapy, hospital, and tissue expander. Within-group effects were assessed using mixed models including the measurements obtained at baseline, 18 and 36 weeks, and 4 years, adjusted for tumor receptor status as well as for stratification factors: age, radiotherapy, hospital, and tissue expander
Baseline results and within-group differences were based on participants having baseline measurements. Between-group differences were based on participants having measurements at 18 weeks, 36 weeks, or 4 years

ISSN: 1741-7015