Effect of Low vs Moderate-intensity Endurance Exercise on Physical Functioning Among Breast Cancer Survivors

Effect of Low-intensity Versus Moderate-intensity Endurance Exercise on Physical Functioning Among Breast Cancer Survivors: a Randomized Controlled Trial

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effect of two exercise programs: 1) one program will be at low intensity; 2) the other program will be at moderate intensity. One hundred forty two women who are breast cancer survivors will be recruited. Participants will be educated on a home exercise program to be performed at either low or moderate intensity, according to group assignment. Evaluations to participants will consist of function and quality of life.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Breast Neoplasms
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Exercise Program Low Intensity; Behavioral: Exercise Program Moderate Intensity

Detailed Description

Improvements in early diagnosis and treatment for breast cancer in women have resulted in increased survivorship. An unintended consequence of increased survival, however, is that more women are living with the negative sequelae associated with cancer treatment, including decreased physical function. Exercise has been beneficial in arresting these sequelae, but adherence to exercise guidelines continues to be a challenge. As most breast cancer survivors are middle-aged and older, an alternative to enhance exercise engagement and adherence might be providing a low intensity exercise program. The overall purpose of this study is to assess the impact of a low intensity versus moderate intensity endurance exercise program on physical functioning on breast cancer survivors. It is hypothesized that participants of the low intensity exercise program will demonstrate similar physical functioning as participants in the moderate intensity exercise program. The Theory of Planned Behavior will serve as framework for the intervention. A convenience sample of 142 women, residents of Puerto Rico, age 50 or older, with a diagnosis of breast cancer, stage 0 thru III, who have received surgical treatment for breast cancer, with or without adjuvant therapy, will be randomly assigned to a low intensity or moderate intensity endurance intervention. Both interventions will be home-based, have a duration of 6 months, and be provided by physical therapists. An evaluator blinded to group assignment will assess participants at baseline and at completion of the intervention. Primary outcome measures will consist of physical functioning, and health-related quality of life.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 142
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

• Study Contact: Name: Ana L Mulero-Portela, PhD; Phone Number: 3493;3483 787-758-2525; Email: ana.mulero@upr.edu

Study Locations

• Puerto Rico
  • San Juan, Puerto Rico, 00936-5067
    • Puerto Rico Clinical and Translational Research Consortium

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 50 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

1. Fifty years of age or older
2. Be a resident of the San Juan metropolitan area of Puerto Rico (PR)
3. Diagnosed with breast cancer
4. Be classified in breast cancer stage grouping 0 to III according to the American Joint Committee on Cancer Classification of Malignant Tumors (TNM) Staging System (2013)
5. Have completed adjuvant curative therapy at least two months to 5 years prior to recruitment

Exclusion Criteria:

1. Women who have contraindications to exercise, such as extreme fatigue or anemia, unstable cardiac disease; uncontrolled diabetes; uncontrolled hypertension; coagulopathies; inability to ambulate independently
2. Women with metastasis or secondary cancers
3. Women who already meet the national standard for exercise (≥ 150 minutes per week of moderate exercise).

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Supportive Care
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: Single

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Low Intensity Exercise; Participants engage in low intensity endurance exercise.	Behavioral: Exercise Program Low Intensity; This arm includes a low-intensity intervention and will have a duration of six months. Participants will be provided with a heart rate monitor to train at the intensity according to group assignment. Progression for both programs in the endurance component will be slower and more gradual for deconditioned participants, and may require multiple shorter periods (5-10 minutes) with rest intervals.
Experimental: Moderate Intensity Exercise; Participants engage in moderate intensity endurance exercise.	Behavioral: Exercise Program Moderate Intensity; This arm includes a moderate-intensity intervention and will have a duration of six months. Participants will be provided with a heart rate monitor to train at the intensity according to group assignment. Progression for both programs in the endurance component will be slower and more gradual for deconditioned participants, and may require multiple shorter periods (5-10 minutes) with rest intervals.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Change in Cardiovascular fitness: Six-minute walk test	Will be used to assess physical function in cancer survivors. It has been validated to assess exercise tolerance (American Thoracic Society, 2002) and has been recommended as a test suitable for fitness, as it is highly correlated with oxygen uptake. An increase in walking distance indicates an improvement in performance. Data will be collected on distance walked (meters), number of rests, and duration of rest during the 6 minutes. Rating of perceived exertion will be monitored. Heart rate and oxygen saturation will be examined using a pulse oximeter.	At month 1 prior to intervention (pre-test); at 6-month (post-test); 6-month follow up.
Change in Quality of Life	Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) Item Bank v.1.0/1.1 General Health. The Spanish version (Salud general) will be used. It contains two subdomains: Global Physical Health and Global Mental Health. The final score can be converted to a score for the EUROQoL.	At month 1 prior to intervention (pre-test); at 6-month (post-test); 6-month follow up.
Change in Functioning	PROMIS Item Bank v. 1.2 Physical Function. The Spanish version (Capacidad de Funcionamiento Físico - Cuestionario Abreviado 20) will be used. It consists of 20 items, measuring upper extremity function, as well as gross motor function such as walking and stairs use.	At month 1 prior to intervention (pre-test); at 6-month (post-test); 6-month follow up.
Change in Depression	Inventario -II de depresión de Beck (BDI-II). The Spanish version has proper psychometric properties for assessment of depression (internal consistency, obtaining a Cronbach alfa of 0.89 and has reported known-group validity; Vega-Dienstmaier, 2014).	At month 1 prior to intervention (pre-test); at 6-month (post-test); 6-month follow up.
Change in Body Image	Body Appreciation Scale-2 (BAS-2; Tylka & Wood-Barcalow, 2014), Spanish version will be used to measure body appreciation, an aspect that encompasses positive self-evaluation of body image. It has 13 items with responses ranging from 1 (never) to 5 (always). The Spanish BAS showed adequate internal consistency (Cronbach's α = .91) and construct validity (correlations with BMI, influence of the body shape model, perceived stress, coping strategies, self-esteem and variables from the Eating Disorders Inventory-2). Test-retest reliability ranged from .88 to .90.	At month 1 prior to intervention (pre-test); at 6-month (post-test); 6-month follow up.

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Change in Physical Activity	Accelerometers will be used to evaluate the amount of time spent in low to moderate and moderate to vigorous physical activity. Accelerometry has been found to be a valid measure of physical activity, as compared to oxygen uptake and calorimetry (Hendelman et al., 2000; Kuffel, et al., 2011) and has been used nationally by the National Health and Nutritional Examination Survey (NHANES) study to document, more precisely than self-reported measures, the intensity and time of physical activity (Hawkins et al., 2009). The procedures established by NHANES (CDC, 2005) will be followed.	At month 1 prior to intervention (pre-test); at 6-month (post-test); 6-month follow up.
Change in Time spend in Habitual Physical Activities	International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ, 2002, self-administered, long Spanish version). The IPAQ assesses multiple domains of activity such as leisure, occupation, household, and transport, among others (Craig et al., 2003). This questionnaire has proved to be reliable (Roman-Viñas et al., 2010), and has been validated with accelerometer, pedometer, physical activity log, and maximal oxygen uptake (van Poppel et al., 2010).	At month 1 prior to intervention (pre-test); at 6-month (post-test); 6-month follow up.
Adherence	Exercise logs. Participants will be asked to record week number and type and duration of exercise. Logs will be collected at the 6-month evaluation session.	At 6-month follow up.

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: University of Puerto Rico
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Ana L Mulero-Portela, PhD, University of Puerto Rico Medical Sciences Campus

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): March 1, 2016
• Primary Completion (Actual): May 1, 2023
• Study Completion (Actual): May 1, 2023

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: November 23, 2016
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: November 30, 2016
• First Posted (Estimated): December 5, 2016

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Estimated): June 16, 2023
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: June 15, 2023
• Last Verified: June 1, 2023

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Exercise; Hispanic; Physical Functioning
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Skin Diseases; Neoplasms; Neoplasms by Site; Breast Diseases; Breast Neoplasms
• Other Study ID Numbers: 1SC3GM116684-01 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: YES
• IPD Plan Description: Data will be presented at the conclusion of the study.

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No