Assessment of functional exercise capacity, muscle strength, fatigue, body balance, and quality of life in women with neoplasms receiving chemotherapy: Comparisons between breast and gynecological cancers.

BACKGROUND

Understanding functional capacity, muscle strength, and postural control can provide appropriate support in women with cancer. We aimed to compare functional capacity, muscle strength, fatigue, body balance, and quality of life among women with breast and gynecological cancers who are receiving chemotherapy.

METHODS

This cross-sectional study included 49 patients (25 with breast cancer and 24 with gynecological cancer) who receiving chemotherapy. The patients completed the following: the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire Core 30; the Berg Balance Scale; the handgrip strength; the Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy-Fatigue scale; and the Glittre-ADL test.

FINDINGS: Women with gynecological cancer showed worse handgrip strength (p = 0.049) and Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy-Fatigue levels (p = 0.010). Women with gynecologic cancer undergoing chemotherapy also exhibited higher falls risk by Berg Balance Scale (p = 0.017). There was no significant difference between women with breast and gynecological cancers regarding Glittre-ADL test time (p = 0.08). Worse quality of life was observed in women with gynecological cancer on the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire Core 30, especially in summary score (p = 0.005).

INTERPRETATION: Our findings show that women with gynecologic cancer undergoing chemotherapy experience greater physical inactivity, cancer-related fatigue, and poorer quality of life than women with gynecologic cancer undergoing chemotherapy. Despite these less favorable outcomes, no statistically significant difference in functional exercise capacity, as measured by the TGlittre, was detected between the groups. Understanding the differences in functionality is important for designing rehabilitation strategies.