Effect of Preoperative Home-Based Exercise Training on Quality of Life After Lung Cancer Surgery: A Multicenter Randomized Controlled Trial

Background. Preoperative exercise training is recommended for improvement of clinical outcomes after lung cancer (LC) surgery. However, its efectiveness in preventing postoperative decline in quality of life (QoL) remains unknown. This study investigated the efect of preoperative home-based exercise training (PHET) on QoL after LC surgery. Methods. Patients awaiting LC resection were randomized to PHET or a control group (CG). The PHET program combined aerobic and resistance exercise, with weekly telephone supervision. Primary outcome was QoL-assessed with the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) Quality of Life Questionnaire C30 (QLQC30) at baseline, before surgery, and 1 month after surgery. The secondary outcomes were hospital length of stay and physical performance. The main analysis included a factorial repeated-measures analysis of variance. Additionally, the proportion of patients experiencing clinical deterioration from baseline to post-surgery was assessed. Results. The study included 41 patients (68.1±9.3 years; 68.3% male) in the intention-to-treat analysis (20 PHET patients, 21 CG patients). A signifcant group × time interaction was observed for global QoL (p =0.004). Betweengroup diferences in global QoL were statistically and clinically signifcant before surgery (mean diference [MD], 13.5 points; 95% confdence interval [CI], 2.4–24.6; p =0.019) and after surgery (MD, 12.4 points; 95% CI, 1.3–23.4; p=0.029), favoring PHET. Clinical deterioration of global QoL was reported by 71.4% of the CG patients compared with 30 % of the PHET patients (p =0.003). Between-group diferences in favor of PHET were found in pain and appetite loss as well as in physical, emotional and role functions after surgery (p <0.05). Compared with CG, PHET was superior in improving preoperative fve-times sit-to-stand and postoperative exercise capacity (p <0.05). No between-group diferences in other secondary outcomes were observed. Conclusion. The study showed that PHET can efectively prevent the decline in QoL after LC surgery.

Keywords

Lung cancer Surgical resection Prehabilitation Home-based exercise training Quality of life

URI

http://hdl.handle.net/10400.8/8909

Citation

Machado, P., Pimenta, S., Garcia, A.L. et al. Effect of Preoperative Home-Based Exercise Training on Quality of Life After Lung Cancer Surgery: A Multicenter Randomized Controlled Trial. Ann Surg Oncol (2023). https://doi.org/10.1245/s10434-023-14503-2