Physical activity level objectively measured by accelerometery in children undergoing cancer treatment at home and in a hospital setting: A pilot study

Abstract

Background: Over the last decades the number of childhood cancer survivors has increased. However, a significant number of childhood cancer survivors suffer from side effects of treatment. This results in a lower quality of life, reduced physical activity (PA), decreased muscle strength and cardiorespiratory fitness compared to healthy peers. To improve PA and to be able to set up and evaluate training programmes, it is necessary to study the feasibility of accelerometery and current objectively measured PA level of children with childhood cancer. Methods: The PA level of twenty-five children undergoing cancer treatment was measured using accelerometery in a cross-sectional study design. Differences in PA levels were analysed by age, cancer type, sex, home or hospital setting and week or weekend days. Results: All participants reported the Actical was well-accepted and the burden and risks associated with participation were negligible.The median of minutes was 1325 min/24hrs of Sedentary Behaviour (SB), 111 min/24hrs of light PA and 4-min/24hrs of moderate-to-vigorous PA (MVPA). In a hospital setting significantly lower levels of PA were achieved, in comparison to a home setting. Conclusion: Accelerometery is feasible to objectively measure PA levels throughout the treatment, both in hospital or home settings. The level of PA per day of all participants was mostly SB, some light PA and hardly any MVPA. It is strongly recommended to determine benefits and limitations of PA in children during cancer treatment and to determine differences in perceptions of capability of PA of these children. With the growing population of childhood cancer survivors, substantiated PA guidelines and advices should be developed. PA for these children should be encouraged and stimulated to minimize the side effects during and after treatment. Keywords: Paediatric, Childhood cancer, Oncology, Physical activity and accelerometer