Effect of modified Baduanjin exercise on nutritional status in patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma: a randomized controlled trial

• Published in: Supportive care in cancer 2024-08, Vol.32 (8), p.498, Article 498
• Main Authors: Zhou, Shufen, Zhang, Yanxin, Yang, Guirong, Huang, Xiaojun, Li, Wei, Lu, Jiamei
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adult; Aged; Cancer; Carcinoma - radiotherapy; China; Clinical trials; Exercise; Exercise - physiology; Exercise Therapy - methods; Female; Health education; Humans; Male; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Middle Aged; Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma - radiotherapy; Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma - therapy; Nasopharyngeal Neoplasms - radiotherapy; Nursing; Nursing Research; Nutritional Status; Oncology; Pain Medicine; Radiation therapy; Rehabilitation Medicine; Throat cancer
• ISSN: 0941-4355; 1433-7339; 1433-7339
• DOI: 10.1007/s00520-024-08646-5

Background As a traditional Chinese fitness technique, Baduanjin is a low- to medium-intensity aerobic exercise that has a common regulatory effect on both body and mind and is also an important means of disease prevention and treatment. However, the role of Baduanjin in improving patients’ nutritional status and promoting tumor recovery remains to be confirmed. Objective This study aims to investigate the effectiveness of the modified Baduanjin exercise on the nutritional status of patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma. Design This is a randomized controlled trial. Setting(s) The participants were recruited from patients in the Radiotherapy Department of the First Affiliated Hospital of Guangxi Medical University in China. Participants A total of 121 patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma were randomly divided into the control group and the Baduanjin group. Finally, 106 patients completed the study (53 cases each in the control group and the Baduanjin group) with the intervention time from the beginning to the end of radiotherapy. Methods The control group received conventional care (health education and regular conventional exercise), and the Baduanjin exercise group received health education and regularly improved Baduanjin exercise, with the intervention time from the beginning to the end of the radiotherapy. Patient-generated subjective global assessment (PG-SGA) was evaluated before, during (15 times), and at the end of radiotherapy as the main evaluation index to compare nutritional status between the two groups. Results From August 2022 to December 2022, 121 patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma were randomly divided into the control group and the Baduanjin group. During the intervention, 15 patients withdrew from the study, leading to 53 of 59 patients in the control group and 53 of 62 patients in the Baduanjin group. After the intervention, the PG-SGA score, radioactive oral mucositis, and oropharyngeal pain score were lower ( P