Sociodemographic and clinical characteristics associated with rehabilitation services utilization in older women with early-stage breast cancer from SEER-Medicare 2009-2018.

Purpose: Rehabilitation services are recommended by clinical practice guidelines following breast cancer treatment, yet little is known about how utilization may vary by patient-level characteristics which we aimed to study using SEER-Medicare data.

Methods: Data from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER)-Medicare linked database was used to identify non-metastatic breast cancer survivors aged ≥ 66 years diagnosed between 2011 and 2016. Rehabilitation services delivered 0-11 months post-diagnosis were identified via outpatient or physician visit claims.

Framework to leverage physical therapists for the assessment and treatment of chemotherapy-induced peripheral neurotoxicity (CIPN).

Purpose: Chemotherapy-induced peripheral neurotoxicity (CIPN) is a highly prevalent, dose-limiting, costly, and tough-to-treat adverse effect of several chemotherapy agents, presenting as sensory and motor dysfunction in the distal extremities. Due to limited effective treatments, CIPN can permanently reduce patient function, independence, and quality of life. One of the most promising interventions for CIPN is physical therapy which includes exercise, stretching, balance, and manual therapy interventions.

Improvements in strength and agility measures of functional fitness following a telehealth-delivered home-based exercise intervention in endometrial cancer survivors.

Purpose: Endometrial cancer is strongly linked to obesity and inactivity; however, increased physical activity has important benefits even in the absence of weight loss. Resistance (strength) training can deliver these benefits; yet few women participate in resistance exercise. The purpose of this study was to describe both physiological and functional changes following a home-based strength training intervention.