Feasibility and preliminary effectiveness of an exercise program for rural survivors of cancer with fatigue

Research Objectives: To investigate the feasibility and preliminary effectiveness of a virtual personalized exercise program for rural survivors of cancer experiencing cancer-related fatigue (CRF). Exercise has been proven to be effective at remediating CRF but programs for rural survivors are lacking.1,2

Design: Single-arm pilot.

Setting: Rural Colorado (general community).

Participants: Twelve survivors (age=61±9 years) from rural Colorado. Survivors of any cancer type within one year of completing treatment and experiencing CRF were recruited via providers and social media. Eleven were women and seven diagnosed with breast cancer.

Interventions: The 12-week program was adapted from a successful supervised program.3 Virtual physical assessments were performed pre- and post-intervention by a licensed physical therapist. Participants received two virtually supervised exercise sessions, one at program initiation and one midway through the program. Exercise prescriptions, targeting national exercise recommendations, were delivered via a smartphone/internet application. CRF was assessed every two weeks via emailed surveys and compared to a validated reference chart of CRF improvement developed from the supervised program.4 Failure to meet predicted CRF improvements (3 points below predicted) triggered additional supervised sessions to assess progress and adapt exercise prescriptions.

Main Outcome Measures: Feasibility was assessed via attendance, survey completion, and program completion. CRF was assessed via the Functional Assessment for Chronic Illness Treatment (FACIT) Fatigue scale.5

Results: Nine participants (75%) completed the program. All withdrawals were prior to exercise program initiation. In completing participants, survey completion and scheduled exercise session attendance were 100%. Four participants received an additional CRF-triggered session. From baseline to 12-weeks, FACIT-Fatigue scores significantly improved (p < 0.01) by 39% (SD=24%, range=10-89%).

Conclusions: Preliminary results indicate the virtual exercise program is feasible for rural Colorado survivors and effective at reducing CRF. Future work should replicate results in a larger sample.

Author(s) Disclosures: The authors have nothing to disclose.