Self-managed physical activity in breast cancer survivors: A scoping review

Maria Chiara Bò; Andrea Merlo; Maria Bernadette Ligabue; Maria Chiara Bassi; Mirco Lusuardi; Isabella Campanini

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0284807

Self-managed physical activity in breast cancer survivors: A scoping review

PLoS One. 2023 Apr 24;18(4):e0284807. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0284807. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Maria Chiara Bò^{1

2}, Andrea Merlo^{1

2}, Maria Bernadette Ligabue³, Maria Chiara Bassi⁴, Mirco Lusuardi⁵, Isabella Campanini¹

Affiliations

¹ LAM-Motion Analysis Laboratory, Neuromotor and Rehabilitation Department, Azienda USL-IRCCS di Reggio Emilia, San Sebastiano Hospital, Correggio (Reggio Emilia), Italy.
² Merlo Bioengineering, Parma, Italy.
³ Motor Rehabilitation Unit, Neuromotor and Rehabilitation Department, Azienda USL-IRCCS di Reggio Emilia, San Sebastiano Hospital, Correggio (Reggio Emilia), Italy.
⁴ Medical Library, Azienda USL-IRCCS di Reggio Emilia, Correggio (Reggio Emilia), Italy.
⁵ Neuromotor and Rehabilitation Department, Azienda USL-IRCCS Reggio Emilia, Correggio (Reggio Emilia), Italy.

Abstract

Objective: Breast cancer survivors (BCS) experience many issues of rehabilitative concern due to the treatments they have undergone. Given the chronicity of these outcomes, the increasing number of survivors, and the positive results obtained by supervised exercise, professionals should consider offering self-managed physical activity (PA) programs to this population. Our aim was to map the currently available evidence about self-care rehabilitation for BCS.

Methods: Medline, CINAHL, and Cochrane databases were searched for primary literature. Scoping review methodological frameworks were used to tackle the heterogeneity of the topic. Studies investigating self-managed PA interventions prescribed to adult BCS were included.

Results: One hundred-eight studies were included, with sample sizes ranging from 6 to 692 patients. Information was systematically collected in tables displaying study design, type of PA, duration and recommended frequency, professional leading the study, type of supervision, initial training, strategies used to help patients integrate self-care into their daily lives, and self-managed PA efficacy. Tables were produced for every oncological side effect that BCS might experience: lymphedema, arthralgia, cancer-related fatigue, a decline in physical parameters, treatment-related cardiotoxicity, peripheral neurotoxicity, and a possible decline in the quality of life.

Conclusions: Self-managed PA has the potential to improve BCS oncological issues. Professionals can adopt many strategies to support patients and empower them with long-lasting self-care competencies. This scoping review provided a comprehensive and easy-to-consult overview of self-managed PA interventions for BCS. We also provided recommendations for future primary studies and secondary synthesis.

Copyright: © 2023 Bò et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

Publication types

Review
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Adult
Breast Neoplasms* / therapy
Cancer Survivors*
Exercise
Female
Humans
Quality of Life
Self-Management*
Survivors

Grants and funding

This study was partially supported by Italian Ministry of Health – Ricerca Corrente Annual Program 2023. There was no additional external funding received for this study. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.