Exercise in breast cancer survivors

¶ … Breast Cancer Survivors

In this particular study, Effects of a supervised exercise intervention on recovery from treatment regimens in breast cancer survivors, by Hsieh, et al. (2008), the problem being addressed is the occurrence of fatigue and other factors that often accompany those who have been treated for breast cancer. Fatigue rates for these patients have been as high as ninety-six percent in some studies (Hsieh, et al., 2008).

There is a deep desire among much of the medical community to find ways to reduce the burden that these individuals feel. Details regarding this problem were addressed in the opening paragraphs of the study and again near the end, and the problem is a current one that the authors showcased in order to hopefully shed light on this area of study. More will not be done about it unless more people are aware of the problem in the first place.

Purpose and Significance

The research question is whether a supervised exercise regimen would improve both fatigue levels and cardiovascular endurance for people who have just completed breast cancer treatment. The significance of this problem is very large because there are more than one million cancer cases each year in the United States. When people are treated for cancer they often feel very tired and they can lose some of the function that their cardiovascular and pulmonary systems had before their diagnosis.

In other words, they are not as healthy overall as they were before. They are out of shape and deconditioned, and the drugs and therapies that they were given to combat the cancer make them feel even worse. In order to alleviate that, something must be done and exercise is one of the best ways -- it is assumed -- to correct the problem. The research could, therefore, have a lot of significance for current and future breast cancer survivors that are struggling with fatigue and other concerns.

Review of the Literature

Primary and recent research studies were used by the authors for this study. There would have been little point in using things that were ten or twenty years out of date. They would not have told the author what was really important currently. Medicine is always on the cutting edge of science and technology, and using information from long ago -- other than to show where medicine has come from -- would be detrimental to the entire study and to what the researcher was trying to show as important. Being thorough and comprehensive is also important in a literature review, and the authors of this study were careful to ensure that they explained what was necessary here.

If a researcher fails to explain the importance of a piece of literature it just becomes a collection of information that a reader is uncertain what to do with. The authors of this study nicely avoided all of that by ensuring that they were clear on what they were addressing and why. Research came mostly from newer studies with a few older ones included in order to show where thoughts on this issue have been in the past and how far they have come. The investigation into breast cancer is extremely important to the nursing and health-care fields.

Many times, nurses are the ones who spend the most time with the patients. They are also usually the first point of contact when someone enters a doctor's office or hospital for treatment. Because of this, they have a unique opportunity to inform everyone, especially young women, about the dangers of breast cancer and how serious of a threat it can be, as well as how important exercise is in recovery.

Most of the research for this study centered around the fact that fatigue in cancer patients is a very real issue (Berger, 2003) and that there are many different ways that have been looked at in the past to treat it. Few of them, however, have been effective on any serious level. Exercise has long been suggested, but if it is not addressed properly or if it is not followed through it does not really have the desired effect and it does not help to prevent or alleviate fatigue. This is why a structured exercise regimen was examined for this study, to show the importance of exercise done the right way, which is something that may have been overlooked by other researchers in the past.

Ethical Considerations

Participants in this study were all women, even though it is possible for men to develop breast cancer as well. The subjects for the study were referred by local oncologists and to protect their rights they were provided with informed consent before participating. In other words, what would be studied and why was explained to them and they could then decide whether they wanted to participate or decline. There was no requirement to participate and patients could stop any time that they felt uncomfortable.

It is vital that individuals who are participating in something like this are made to feel comfortable and that they are clear on the fact that they are capable of choosing to discontinue participation. It is very difficult to get honest and complete answers from people who feel as though they have been coerced into something. It is a much better choice when people are participating of their own free will and when they feel as though they are gaining something and helping others in the process.

Method and Analysis

The study used a quantitative research design that addressed statistical information collected on the participants at the beginning of the study and at the completion of it. The dependent variable was the cancer treatment, and the independent variables were the types of treatment that the patients received and the ways that they improved (cardiovascular, pulmonary, and fatigue).

It was hypothesized that exercise would help to alleviate fatigue and increase cardiovascular and pulmonary endurance in all patients to varying degrees, and that exercise is therefore beneficial in many ways to breast cancer survivors. In analyzing the data, the researchers used a one way analysis of variation (ANOVA). Before and after exercise numbers were examined and compared with one another to gauge the rates of improvement for each patient and collectively.

Findings/Conclusions and Implications

The main finding of the study was that exercise was indeed important for breast cancer survivors. All of them showed improvement in their cardiovascular and pulmonary functions and in their overall level of fatigue. Those who had surgery plus both radiation and chemotherapy showed the least improvement, but all groups did better in the end than they did in the beginning. This indicates that the idea of treating fatigue and similar problems with exercise following cancer surgery is something that is very important and should be further addressed. It appears to be a viable alternative to other methods or to doing nothing, which is what happens with many breast cancer survivors.

The study was strong in the way that it was carried out, but it was limited by the fact that there were few participants. A larger group of women, or a group of women and men would be helpful in making a determination as to how effective this type of therapy really is. Also important would be studies of this nature that are done into other types of cancers. This is something, however, that is very important to those in the nursing practice because they are the ones who can really help to educate the patients.