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ABSTRACT
Background: Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is one type of childhood cancer. In the past decades, cure rates of ALL have increased and the survivor's quality of life and physical fitness have become a growing concern. Furthermore cancer-related fatigue (CRF) is reported to be the most distressing symptom in cancer. Objective: We aimed to examine the effect of aerobic exercise on the physical fitness and fatigue in children suffering from ALL. Methods: Thirty patients of 8 to 16 years with ALL participated in this study. Participants were randomized to study group (Group A), who participated in supervised aerobic exercise program in addition to home program, and control group (Group B), who were instructed to maintain their usual level of activity in addition to home program. Measurement of physical fitness and fatigue were done at the baseline and after 16th weeks. Results: Post measurement results suggested that, there was significance difference between both groups (P> 0.05). The percentage of improvement of physical fitness and fatigue level for group A was 31.06% and 21.56% respectively, while the percentage of improvement for group B was 4.16 % and 2.78% respectively. Conclusion: Aerobic exercise is effective in improving physical fitness and management of CRF in children with ALL.
Key Words: Acute lymphoblastic leukemia, Cancer related fatigue exercise training, Physical fitness.
INTRODUCTION
Acute Leukemia is a malignant disease that affects bone marrow and results in the accumulation of immature, functionless cells in the marrow and blood [1]. It is reported that ALL is a common form of childhood malignancy. ALL is classified into Acute Myelocytic Leukemia (AML) and Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL) [2, 3].
Patients suffering from cancer, especially who are receiving chemotherapy, mostly experience fatigue. Today, it is observed that fatigue is the untreated side effect for cancer [4]. Moreover it is suggested that it also affects the patient's physical performance and daily activities [5].
Physical fitness is considered as an important health marker for functional status of different body functions. It has been reported that impairment of physical fitness commonly represented during and after childhood cancer treatment [6, 7, 8]. In addition to, it is suggested that low physical fitness may be a cause of fatigue [9]. Maximal oxygen consumption (VO2 max) has been used...