Abstract
Objective: Physical activity as an element of the treatment for patients with childhood cancer is important to improve patients’ muscle strength and quality of life (QOL). However, the effects of including physical activity as part of the treatment for children with cancer are largely unclear. Hence, this study aimed to clarify the effects of physical activity as part of the intervention for patients with childhood cancer.
Methods: First, we examined the contents of four relevant and published review studies. Next, a search was conducted on five databases to identify relevant studies. The search term revolved around the combination of key words such as “children” AND “cancer” OR “oncology” OR “leukemia” OR “lymphoma” OR “tumor” AND “physical activity” OR “exercise” OR “daily activity” OR “life activity”. Of the 823 studies found, we identified six studies that met all the criteria. Effect size (Hedges’ g) regarding physical activity was estimated using a random effect model with 95% confidence intervals (CI).
Results: In patients with childhood cancer, physical activity had an impact on QOL [g=0.17, 95%CI=−0.48 to 0.57], fatigue [g=0.25, 95%CI=−0.16 to 0.67], hemoglobin [g=0.11, 95%CI=−0.32 to 0.75], sleep quality [g=0.22, 95%CI=−0.32 to 0.47], activity [g=0.14, 95%CI=−0.95 to 1.23], ankle dorsiflexion active range of motion [g=0.47, 95%CI=−0.32 to 0.75], body mass [g=0.16, 95%CI=−0.76 to 1.07], and BMI [g=−0.12, 95%CI=−1.04 to 0.80].
Conclusion: These results suggested that physical activity as part of the treatment regimen for children during the treatment of childhood cancer was not effect. For future studies, it is need to measure the effectiveness of physical activity during the treatment of childhood cancer.
