Preoperative Structured Exercise Programme on Patients With Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (READY-LUNG)

February 10, 2026 updated by: Burcu Duluklu, Hacettepe University

The Effect of Preoperative Structured Exercise Programme on Postoperative Pain Severity, Recovery Level, Discharge Time and Quality of Life in Patients With Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: Randomised Controlled Study

INTRODUCTION: Lung cancer is among the leading cancers, and surgery has a major role in treatment. Patients diagnosed with Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC) who are eligible for surgical treatment have a high risk of experiencing postoperative complications. Therefore, in recent years, the concept of prehabilitation has begun to gain importance. Within the scope of prehabilitation practices, patients are provided with programmes that include aerobic exercises and breathing exercises in the preoperative period.

AIM: This study aims to evaluate the effects of a structured exercise programme, including aerobic exercises and breathing exercises in the preoperative period, on postoperative pain severity, surgical recovery level, length of hospital stays (LOS), and quality of life (QoL) in patients diagnosed with NSCLC and planned for surgical treatment.

METHODS: The research is an experimental, parallel group-randomised controlled trial to be conducted with 62 participants followed in the Thoracic Surgery Outpatient Clinic of Dr. Abdurrahman Yurtaslan Ankara Oncology Training and Research Hospital and scheduled for surgery due to NSCLC. Patients will be equally assigned to the intervention and control groups using the block randomization method. In the intervention group, in the preoperative period, for two weeks and five days per week, at least 30 minutes of walking per day will be performed; in addition, for two weeks before surgery, throughout the entire week, during waking hours, 10 repetitions with incentive spirometer every hour, and daily four sessions of deep breathing & coughing exercises will be performed as breathing exercises. In the control group, routine preoperative clinical procedures will be applied. In the postoperative period, pain severity, surgical recovery level, LOS, and QoL will be compared between the two groups. Data will be collected face-to-face by the researcher using the "Descriptive Characteristics Form", "EQ-5D-5L Quality of Life Scale", "Numeric Rating Scale (NRS)", and "Surgical Recovery Scale". Data on the length of hospital stay will be obtained from patient files. The data will be analysed using parametric and/or nonparametric tests through the SPSS.

CONCLUSION: The findings of the study are expected to contribute to strengthening holistic care approaches for the preoperative period in surgical nursing practices and to improving patient outcomes.

Study Overview

Status

Not yet recruiting

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

62

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Contact

  • Name: Burcu Duluklu, Asst. Prof.
  • Phone Number: +905334732070
  • Email: duluklu@gmail.com

Study Contact Backup

Study Locations

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria

  1. Age ≥ 18 years.
  2. Ownership of a smartphone capable of tracking daily walking time.
  3. Diagnosis of primary non-small cell lung cancer.
  4. ASA (American Society of Anesthesiologists) classification I, II, or III.
  5. Follow-up and treatment provided by the same surgical team.
  6. No physical or cognitive impairment that would hinder participation in the study.

Exclusion Criteria

  1. Diagnosis of recurrent lung cancer.
  2. Previous radiotherapy treatment prior to surgery.
  3. Any condition preventing walking or exercise (orthopedic, neurological, cardiovascular, metastatic, etc.).
  4. Diagnosis of additional respiratory system disease such as COPD, asthma, or emphysema preventing breathing exercises.
  5. Inability to complete the two-week structured exercise programme due to surgery being scheduled earlier or later than planned.
  6. Complications resulting in prolonged (>24 hours) intensive care unit stay after surgery.
  7. Inability to discontinue or continue the structured exercise programme at any stage.
  8. Refusal to participate in the study.

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

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

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Intervention Group
Prehabilitation (Structured Preoperative Exercise Programme)
Other: Prehabilitation (Structured Preoperative Exercise Programme)
Participants in this arm will receive a structured preoperative exercise programme starting two weeks before surgery. The programme includes moderate-intensity walking for at least 30 minutes 5 days per week, deep breathing and coughing exercises four times daily, and hourly incentive spirometry exercises while awake. Participants will record daily adherence to the exercise programme, and compliance will be monitored through daily telephone follow-up by the researcher. Study-related data will be collected from patients admitted to the hospital at the end of the two-week preoperative period in accordance with the study protocol. In this regard, the measurements to be taken in the study will include: (1) Pain severity: At 6, 12, 24 and 48 hours after surgery; (2) Surgical recovery level: On the third and seventh days after surgery; (3) Quality of life: On the first day before surgery and on the seventh day after surgery. (4) In addition, patients' LOSs will be recorded.
No Intervention: Control Group
Control: Partients in this arm will receive standard preoperative care without a structured exercise programme. Study-related data will be collected from patients admitted to the hospital at the end of the two-week preoperative period in accordance with the study protocol. In this regard, the measurements to be taken in the study will include: (1) Pain severity: At 6, 12, 24 and 48 hours after surgery; (2) Surgical recovery level: On the third and seventh days after surgery; (3) Quality of life: On the first day before surgery and on the seventh day after surgery. (4) In addition, patients' LOSs will be recorded.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Health-Related Quality of Life (EQ-5D-5L)
Time Frame: Change from baseline scores on the 7th postoperative day.
The EQ-5D-5L is a self-reported questionnaire assessing five dimensions of health: mobility, self-care, usual activities, pain/discomfort, and anxiety/depression. Each dimension has five levels: no problems, mild problems, moderate problems, severe problems, and extreme problems. The questionnaire also includes a Visual Analog Scale (VAS) ranging from 0 (worst health) to 100 (best health) for participants to rate their current health status. Higher scores indicate better health.
Change from baseline scores on the 7th postoperative day.
Postoperative Pain Intensity (Numeric Rating Scale, NRS)
Time Frame: Change from baseline scores on the 48 hours postoperatively.
The NRS is an 11-point scale (0-10) used to assess pain intensity, where 0 indicates no pain and 10 indicates the worst possible pain. Patients rate their pain at each time point, and the average of the measurements will be used to assess postoperative pain. The NRS is validated for adults, including elderly patients and those with mild-to-moderate cognitive impairment.
Change from baseline scores on the 48 hours postoperatively.
Postoperative Surgical Recovery (Surgical Recovery Scale)
Time Frame: Change from baseline scores on the 7th postoperative day.
The Surgical Recovery Scale is a 13-item questionnaire assessing two sub-dimensions: "Impact on energy" and "Impact on daily activities." Items are scored using 6-point Likert scales, with higher scores indicating better recovery. The total score ranges from 8 to 73. This scale is validated with a Cronbach's α of 0.93.
Change from baseline scores on the 7th postoperative day.

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Length of Hospital Stay
Time Frame: Approximately the seventh day.
Patients' discharge time will be recorded and compared in both groups.
Approximately the seventh day.

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Hacettepe University

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Burcu Duluklu, Asst. Prof., Hacettepe University, Faculty of Nursing, Surgical Nursing Department

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Helpful Links

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Estimated)

February 1, 2026

Primary Completion (Estimated)

February 1, 2027

Study Completion (Estimated)

March 1, 2027

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

February 3, 2026

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

February 3, 2026

First Posted (Actual)

February 10, 2026

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

February 12, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

February 10, 2026

Last Verified

February 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • HAE24/90

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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