Clincosm LogoSign in Get a demo

BHVBC: Behavioural Changes in Breast Cancer Patients

Sponsor
Universidad Politecnica de Madrid (Other)
Overall Status
Unknown status
CT.gov ID
NCT01990430
Collaborator
Hospital General Universitario Gregorio Marañon (Other), Puerta de Hierro University Hospital (Other), Hospital Universitario Madrid Sanchinarro (Other)
60
Enrollment
1
Location
2
Arms
23
Duration (Months)
2.6
Patients Per Site Per Month

Study Details

Study Description

Brief Summary

Exercise training has been established as a feasible and safe intervention during or after neoplastic treatment in breast cancer patients. Numerous studies have shown that exercise can prevent and control various treatment-related side effects including functional limitation, physical capacity, anxiety and sleep disturbance. In the long-term, an active life style has been demonstrated to increase survival in women, who maintain a moderate level of exercise per week (30 or 75 minutes of brisk walking 5 days per week).

Specifically, active breast cancer survivors have a 51-85% lower cancer specific mortality and 33-82% lower all cause of mortality. But despite this, most breast cancer patients reduce their physical activity levels during and after cancer treatment. In 2010, a roundtable meeting of American College of Sport Medicine published guidelines for cancer survivors, defining that the recommended amount of exercise was 150 minutes per week of aerobic exercise of moderate-intensity and 2 or 3 days per week of strength training that included exercise for major muscle groups. But only 30-47% of breast cancer survivors follow these exercise recommendations.

In most clinical settings, information by the oncologist to keep physical active is part of the recommendation. Yet some breast cancer patients find it difficult to begin or maintain the minimal activity levels recommended by the experts. A typical obstacle includes lack of directions from experts, which can assure the safety and feasibility of the exercise that they perform. Moreover, important personal aspects can have major influence on the exercise preference, including certain food choice and dietary intakes, education level or the preference of a face-to-face exercise counseling by a professional.

A cancer diagnosis is recognized as "teachable moment", where patients are particularly motivated for lifestyle changes. So it is important to approach the patients with adequate interventions that consider the different needs in order to get a healthier behavior among the breast cancer patients.

Taking this into account, the hypothesis of this pilot project is that a guided integrated group exercise program, which includes an educational program on healthy life style, will increase the adherence of breast cancer survivors to exercise and a healthy diet. Therefore the aim of this pilot study was to investigate if a comprehensive and specific group exercise program, which includes dietary and exercise information, could increase leisure-time exercise in women with breast cancer.

Condition or Disease Intervention/Treatment Phase
  • Behavioral: Exercise Intervention
 N/A

Detailed Description

This study will be performed as a collaboration between Technical University of Madrid (UPM), Spanish Group of Cancer Patients (GEPAC), Hospital General Universitario Gregorio Marañón, Hospital Universitario Puerta de Hierr y Hospital de Sanchinarro-Madrid del Norte. The project will be carried out at the facilities of the Physical Activity and Sport Science Institute (INEF) and has been approved by the Ethical Committee of the UPM. A single arm pilot project with pre-post test has been designed.

Intervention The exercise program was designed and conducted by a qualified exercise physiologist with oncologic training. The exercise program consisted in a twice weekly supervised training program developed in a social framework. The sessions included instructions in training exercises, as well as included time to speak about their fears and doubts with other patients, who were in the same situation. The intervention lasted 12 weeks (24 sessions). The training intensity was progressively increased from 65% to 85% of heart rate with control by a POLAR FT7 heart rate monitor for aerobic activities, and by 8-15 repetitions in 2-3 sets for the strength activities. Exercise intensity was prescribed using Karvonen equation.

Every supervised session had the same structure and a duration of 60 minutes. American College Sport Medicine (ACSM) Guidelines for Cancer Patients were followed for the session design. The first 10 minutes was a dynamic warm up combining different ways of movement around the class and articular movements. Next part consisted in aerobic exercise, where the principal aim was to practice exercises that increased the participant's functional capacity with music-based activities such as aerobic, box-dance or global strength circuits without external resistance. Followed by upper-limbs strength exercises with elastic bands to improve strength and increase arm lean mass, focusing on chest and dorsal exercises. The last part was whole-body stretching exercises to improve joint mobility and muscle flexibility of upper body limbs, and general muscle relaxation after training.

The exercise program was complemented with theoretical classes about exercise and nutrition. One class of exercise prescription was held after two months of intervention. The patients were taught about the minimum of exercise recommended and about which activities they could do and how to adapt them depending on their own situations.

The nutrition program consisted of three theoretical and practice classes, where specific terms of nutrition and diet were explained. The first class explained the different groups of nutrients, their functions in the organism and for which group of aliments these can be obtained. The second class was a practical class about how to interpret food labels and relating measurements of food portions with recommendations for a healthy diet. Final session spoke about the ten best and the ten worst aliments, which prevent and promote cancer. Teachers did not promote avoiding any group of aliments and a Mediterranean diet was encouraged to be followed.

Study Design

Study Type:
Interventional
Anticipated Enrollment :
60 participants
Allocation:
Randomized
Intervention Model:
Parallel Assignment
Masking:
None (Open Label)
Primary Purpose:
Treatment
Official Title:
Integrative Exercise and Life Style Intervention Increase Leisure Time Activity in Breast Cancer Patients.
Study Start Date :
Jan 1, 2013
Anticipated Primary Completion Date :
Sep 1, 2014
Anticipated Study Completion Date :
Dec 1, 2014

Arms and Interventions

Arm Intervention/Treatment
Experimental: Exercise Intervention

The exercise program was designed and conducted by a qualified exercise physiologist with oncologic training. The exercise program consisted in a twice weekly supervised training program developed in a social framework. The sessions included instructions in training exercises, as well as included time to speak about their fears and doubts with other patients, who were in the same situation. The nutrition program consisted of three theoretical and practice classes, where specific terms of nutrition and diet were explained. Teachers did not promote avoiding any group of aliments and a Mediterranean diet was encouraged to be followed.

Behavioral: Exercise Intervention
Intervention: The sessions included instructions in training exercises, as well as included time to speak about their fears and doubts with other patients, who were in the same situation. The intervention lasted 12 weeks (24 sessions). The training intensity was progressively increased from 65% to 85% of heart rate with control by a POLAR FT7 heart rate monitor for aerobic activities, and by 8-15 repetitions in 2-3 sets for the strength activities. Exercise intensity was prescribed using Karvonen equation. The nutrition program consisted of three theoretical and practice classes. The first class explained the different groups of nutrients, their functions in the organism and for which group of aliments these can be obtained. The second class was a practical class about how to interpret food labels and relating measurements of food portions with recommendations for a healthy diet. Final session spoke about the ten best and the ten worst aliments, which prevent and promote cancer.
Other Names:
  • Active Life Style

    		•
    No Intervention: Control

    Patients will be asked to maintain their usual life style, without special changes

    Outcome Measures

    Primary Outcome Measures

    1. Patients Quality of Life Questionnaire and Exercise Leisure-time Questionnaire [Changes from baseline at 12 weeks]

      Combined primary objective has been elected. Both of them have to be positive. FACT-B and Godin Leisure-Time Exercise Questionnaire have been chosen as validated instruments to assess primary variables

    Secondary Outcome Measures

    1. Fatigue Questionnaire [Changes from baseline at 12 weeks]

      Fact-Fatigue (FACT-F) is the instrument chose to assess the variable

    2. Depression Questionnaire [Change from baseline at 12 weeks]

      Center of Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D scale) is the validated questioner chose to assess this variable

    Other Outcome Measures

    1. Physical Capacity [Change from baseline at 12 weeks]

      A maximal oxigen consumption (VO2) test will be used to assess this variable

    2. Maximal Strength [Change from baseline at 12 weeks]

      A 1 maximal repetition will be used to assess this variable

    Eligibility Criteria

    Criteria

    Ages Eligible for Study:
    18 Years to 80 Years
    Sexes Eligible for Study:
    Female
    Accepts Healthy Volunteers:
    No
    Inclusion Criteria:
    Inclusion criteria:

    • Older than 18 years and younger than 75.

    • Breast cancer diagnosed confirmed stage I-IIIA.

    • Randomized disposition.

    • Minimum of 45 days and maximum of 36 months after finishing treatments (chemotherapy and radiotherapy).

    • 0-1 in Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) scale (present the ability to walk briskly)

    • Oncologist approval.

    • Informed Consent signed.

    • Comunidad Autónoma de Madrid inhabitant.

    Exclusion Criteria:

    • Metastasis presence

    • Serious medical risk such as unstable cardiac condition or severe pulmonary disease and anticoagulants treatments.

    • Oncology or primary care approval who verified the medical risk exclusion criteria.

    • ECOG > 1

    • Pregnant

    Contacts and Locations

    Locations

    Site City State Country Postal Code
    1 Faculty of Physical Activity and Sport Science Madrid Spain 28040

    Sponsors and Collaborators

    • Universidad Politecnica de Madrid
    • Hospital General Universitario Gregorio Marañon
    • Puerta de Hierro University Hospital
    • Hospital Universitario Madrid Sanchinarro

    Investigators

    • Study Director: Javier Sampedro, Proffesor, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid

    Study Documents (Full-Text)

    None provided.

    More Information

    Publications

    Responsible Party:
    Soraya Casla Barrio, Master, Universidad Politecnica de Madrid
    ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier:
    NCT01990430
    Other Study ID Numbers:
    • behaviourchanges
    First Posted:
    Nov 21, 2013
    Last Update Posted:
    Jan 14, 2014
    Last Verified:
    Jan 1, 2014

    Study Results

    No Results Posted as of Jan 14, 2014