Korstjens, I., Mesters, I., van der Peet, E., Gijsen, B., & van den Borne, B. (2006). Quality of life of cancer survivors after physical and psychosocial rehabilitation. European Journal of Cancer Prevention, 15, 541–547.

This was a twelve-week outpatient rehabilitation program combining physical exercise and psycho-education and delivered in a group setting (12–16 participants per group). Physical training was led by two physiotherapists for two hours twice a week. Sessions aims included improving movement skills, improving strength and endurance, coping with fatigue, enhancing feelings of control, and reducing stress. Each session consisted of individual strength and endurance training (one hour) or a group sports activity (one hour), paired with 30 minutes of aqua aerobics. Each session of the group sports activity had a central theme (i.e., capability and cooperation, coordination, throwing and catching, social contact, winning and losing, relaxation). Psychoeducation sessions were led by oncology health professionals and aimed at providing support in coping with cancer and enhancing self-confidence and autonomy. Participants were provided with information on cancer-related subjects and encouraged to share their experiences as cancer survivors. Patient outcomes were assessed at baseline, week 6, and week 12.

• N = 658
• MEAN AGE =50.6 years
• AGE RANGE = 18–75 years
• FEMALES: 77.8%
• KEY DISEASE CHARACTERISTICS: Participants with mixed solid tumors and hematologic malignancies. Approximately 50% of the sample had the diagnosis of breast cancer.
• OTHER KEY SAMPLE CHARACTERISTICS: The majority was married or lived together (77.7%), most had children (76.9%), about half were employed at the time of diagnosis (48.3%). At the start of rehabilitation, only one-fifth (15.8%) was actually at work. The sample was a mean of 1.3 years from the conclusion of treatment, with a range of 0–14 years following treatment.
• EXCLUSION CRITERIA: Physically at risk owing to cancer or serious comorbidity, serious cognitive disturbances, restricting side effects of medication, or if needing more complex rehabilitation

• Longitudinal single-arm cohort design
  • No comparison group

• EORTC QLQ-C30

After six weeks, participants in the intervention group experienced a significant decline in fatigue (p < 0.001) in comparison to baseline measurements. After 12 weeks, participants experienced an even greater decline in fatigue (p < 0.0001) in comparison to baseline measurements.

• Unable to determine the benefits of exercise and psychoeducation components of intervention separately
• Lack of a neutral comparison group; therefore, unable to determine whether improvements in quality of life were a direct result of the rehabilitative program
• Long-term effects were not assessed in the study

Future research should incorporate objective physical strength and endurance tests and validated measurement instruments for more specific psychosocial parameters.