Aims: To examine the effects of a group-based physical activity intervention on improvement in physical activity and mitigation of symptom distress among pediatric patients with cancer.
Methods: Based on convenience sampling, 57 pediatric patients with cancer admitted to the cancer center were included in the intervention group. The control group included 57 pediatric patients with cancer from two other hospitals matched to the patients in the intervention group by age, sex, and diagnosis. A group-based physical activity program was implemented among the children in the intervention group, whereas the children in the control group received standard care. Physical activity and symptoms were measured using the Children's Leisure Time Activities Study Survey-Chinese and using the Memorial Symptom Assessment Scale 10-18 at baseline and after the 12th exercise session in both the intervention and control groups.
Results: The repeated-measures analysis of variance showed that the main intervention effects on the decrease in light-intensity physical activity and increase in moderate-to-vigorous physical activity were significant between the two groups (P < .001). The group-based physical activity intervention could decrease the scores of psychological symptoms (P < .001), Global Distress Index (P < .001), and physical symptoms (P = .01) when comparing the difference between the two groups before and after the intervention. There was no significant difference in the number of symptoms or the total symptom experience score between the two groups.
Conclusion: These findings suggest that a group-based physical activity intervention can promote physical activity and relieve psychological and physical symptom distress among pediatric patients with cancer.
Keywords: cancer; group-based; pediatric; physical activity; symptom experience.
© 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.