Brain tumor (BT) patients have a high incidence of disability due to the effects of the tumor itself or oncological treatment. Despite the incidence of neurological and functional deficits caused by BT, rehabilitation of those patients is not as properly established as in patients with other neurological conditions. The aim of the research was to evaluate the effectiveness of a multidisciplinary rehabilitation, carried out as an out- or in-patient program, as prevention of disability in BT patients. This was developed as a case-series report of two programs and a prospective, observational clinical study in BT patients who were allocated to inpatient (n = 28) or outpatient (n = 26) rehabilitation programs. The patients were assessed using the Barthel Index, Berg Balance Scale, Functional Independence Measure (FIM), Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Brain and Cognitive Function, and Addenbrooke's Cognitive Examination III (ACE III) upon admission and after 12 weeks of rehabilitation. Analysis of the results showed that patients in both programs significantly improved their physical functioning scores in daily activities (p < 0.0001). We also observed significant reductions in most post-intervention cognitive complaints (p < 0.05), except for the FIM social functioning and ACE III language functioning in the outpatient group (p > 0.05) in contrast to inpatients (p < 0.001). This is evidence that early multidisciplinary rehabilitation is an effective therapeutic strategy to reduce BT symptoms and disability in this group of patients.
Keywords: cancer; exercise; oncology; quality of life; supportive care.