| Abstract [eng] |
SUMMARY Vilnius University Faculty of Medicine The department of Rehabilitation, Physical and Sports Medicine Master of Adapted Physical Activity program The Influence of Nordic Walking on Upper Extremity Function, Functional Capacity and Quality of Life in Female Breast Cancer Patients During the Late Post-operative Period Adapted Physical Activity master‘s thesis Author of the Thesis: Eglė Kalvaitienė Supervisor of the Thesis: assc. prof. L. Samsonienė, Vilnius University. Breast cancer is the most common oncology disease among women in Lithuania and in many other developed world countries. Not only the disease itself but the treatment also cause undesirable symptoms: fatigue, appetite loss, decrease of mobility of joints and muscle strength, swellings, etc. The nordic walking improves the mobility, decreases sensitivity to pain, improves drain of lymph and it can be recommended as a safe physical activity for breast cancer patients. Key words: physical activity, physical parameters, nordic walking, quality of life, breast cancer. Aim of the study: to assess the effects of nordic walking for upper extremities function, physical capacity and quality of life of breast cancer patients in late post-operative period. Tasks of the study: 1. To compare physical parameters of investigational and control groups: an amplitude of the motion of the upper arm, the strength of the hand muscle, size of the arm, 6 minutes test of walking before and after nordic walking. 2. To compare experienced pain measured with VAS pain scale of investigational and control groups before and after nordic walking. 3. To assess quality of life of investigational and control groups before and after nordic walking. 4. To explore the relationship between physical parameters and quality of life in investigational group. Procedure of the study. The study was conducted in National Cancer Institute Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Department. Participants of the study were female patients in radiotherapy treatment. There were 40 participants divided in two groups: investigational group (N=20) and control group (N=20). After measuring in both groups physical parameters (an amplitude of the motion of the upper arm, the strength of the hand muscle, the lymphoedema of the hand after the surgery, toleration for physical exertion), experienced pain and quality of life, for the investigational group nordic walking was applied 3 times in a week and for the control group it was recommended to take a walk outside 3 times in a week. Data analysis was conducted with R program package and Excel 2010. Results and conclusions. The study showed that after the nordic walking physical parameters improved in investigational group (p<0,05), but there were no improvement of physical parameters in control group (p>0,05). The nordic walking had a positive effect on physical parameters in the investigational group. Experienced pain decreased in investigational group after the nordic walking (p<0,05). Physical activity had a positive effect on experienced pain in the investigational group. There was a difference in investigational group between quality of life before and after physical activity: there was increase in emotional functioning and body image scales, there was decrease in fatigue, systemic therapy side effects and upset by hair loss scales (p<0,05); in a control group there was increase in role and social functioning scales (p<0,05). The results show that there is a big disease impact on quality of life. There was a statistically significant moderate correlation between quality of life scales and physical parameters (r = 0,40-0,69) in the investigational group. The results show that physical activity had a positive impact on quality of life of breast cancer patients in a radiotherapy treatment. |
