Effectiveness of a Home-Based Exercise Intervention in the Fitness Profile of Hispanic Survivors of Breast Cancer.

Background: Home-based exercise interventions might be a desirable long-term option for breast cancer survivors to enhance compliance and long-term health benefits.

Purpose: To assess the effectiveness of a home-based intervention aimed at helping survivors of breast cancer meet the physical activity guidelines of the American College of Sports Medicine.

Methods: Eighty-nine women (age: 55.4 ± 10 years; BMI: 31 ± 6.5 kg/m) from two cancer centers serving Hispanic women participated in this study. Women performed a baseline assessment of cardiorespiratory fitness, muscle endurance and strength, flexibility, range of motion, and extremity disability. After baseline measures, women were randomized into a control (C) or exercise (E) group. The exercise intervention consisted of a walking program, elastic band strengthening, and flexibility exercises performed at home. The outcome measures were reassessed 16 weeks after baseline measures.

Results: The intervention showed a strong effect of time on muscle strength and shoulder range of motion, and time and group for self-reported disability. There were no differences in sedentary behavior, physical fitness, and disability measures across intervention groups, including both exercise groups combined and changes over time between intervention groups.

Conclusion: It appears that a home-based intervention affects only upper body strength and related disability, indicating that other components might need closer monitoring for significant changes to occur across time.