Impact of Aerobic Exercise on Physical Fitness and Fatigue in Children with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia.

Background: Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is one type of childhood cancer. In the past decades, cure rates of ALL have increased and the survivor's quality of life and physical fitness have become a growing concern. Furthermore cancer-related fatigue (CRF) is reported to be the most distressing symptom in cancer. Objective: We aimed to examine the effect of aerobic exercise on the physical fitness and fatigue in children suffering from ALL. Methods: Thirty patients of 8 to 16 years with ALL participated in this study. Participants were randomized to study group (Group A), who participated in supervised aerobic exercise program in addition to home program, and control group (Group B), who were instructed to maintain their usual level of activity in addition to home program. Measurement of physical fitness and fatigue were done at the baseline and after 16^th weeks. Results: Post measurement results suggested that, there was significance difference between both groups (P< 0.05). The percentage of improvement of physical fitness and fatigue level for group A was 31.06% and 21.56% respectively, while the percentage of improvement for group B was 4.16 % and 2.78% respectively. Conclusion: Aerobic exercise is effective in improving physical fitness and management of CRF in children with ALL. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]