Multilateral training improves physical fitness and fatigue perception in cancer patients

Cancer patients bring with them physiological and psychological side effects and physical activity is emerging as a major tool to improve their quality of life and survival. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of 8-week multilateral training program on perceived fatigue, lower back flexibility, balance and task specific functional mobility in cancer patients. Twenty participants (52.6±17.1 years) were pair-matched based on age and then randomly assigned to an experimental group (n=10) that performed a progressive training of cardiorespiratory, resistance, flexibility and postural education exercises (~60min, 2d·wk-1), or a wait-list control group (n=10). Measures pre-intervention and post-intervention included psychological and physiological measurements. After intervention, significant improvements (p < 0.01) were detected in experimental group for the perceived fatigue, trunk lateral flexibility test (right and left sides), stork balance stand test (right and left sides) and 30 seconds chair stand test. Findings suggest that multilateral training program may improve the physical fitness and reduce perceived fatigue in cancer patients providing an important support to deal with physiological and psychological side effects. In addition, this multilateral approach may actually prevent physical inactivity, muscle wasting, and loss of energy in special populations.