Accepted for/Published in: JMIR Research Protocols
Date Submitted: Apr 6, 2022
Date Accepted: Jun 16, 2022
Efficacy of group exercise-based cancer rehabilitation delivered via telehealth (TeleCaRe): a randomised controlled trial protocol
ABSTRACT
Background:
Access to rehabilitation to support cancer survivors to exercise is poor. Group exercise-based rehabilitation may be delivered remotely but no trials have currently evaluated its effectiveness.
Objective:
To evaluate the effectiveness of a group exercise-based cancer rehabilitation program delivered via telehealth compared to usual care for improving quality of life of cancer survivors.
Methods:
A parallel, assessor-blinded, pragmatic randomised controlled trial with embedded cost and qualitative analysis will be completed. One-hundred and sixteen cancer survivors will be recruited from a metropolitan health network in Melbourne, Australia. The experimental group will attend an 8-week, twice weekly, 60-minute, exercise group supervised via videoconferencing supplemented by an online home exercise program and information portal. The comparison group will receive usual care including standardised exercise advice and written information. Assessments will be completed at week 0 (baseline), week 9 (post-intervention) and week 26 (follow-up). The primary outcome will be health-related quality of life measured by the EORTC QLQ-C30 at week 9. Secondary measures include walking capacity (6-minute walk test), physical activity (activPAL accelerometer), self-efficacy (Health Action Process Approach Questionnaire) and adverse events. Health service data including hospital length of stay, hospital readmissions, and emergency department presentations will be recorded. Semi-structured interviews will be completed within an interpretive description framework to explore the patient experience. The primary outcome will be analysed using linear mixed effects models. A cost-effectiveness analysis will also be performed.
Results:
Trial not yet recruiting. Anticipated commencement April 2022.
Conclusions:
This trial will inform the future implementation of cancer telerehabilitation by providing important data about effectiveness, safety, cost and patient experience. Clinical Trial: The TeleCaRe Trial has been approved by the Eastern Health Human Research Ethics Committee (E21-012-74698) and is funded by the Victorian Cancer Agency. This trial is prospectively registered with the Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry ACTRN12621001417875. Registered 21st October, 2021.
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