Exercise therapy with multiple myeloma patients: Evaluation of real-life data from an oncologic care structure on feasibility, adherence, and efficacy

Purpose: Multiple myeloma (MM) is a severe hemato-oncological disease with high mortality and increasing incidence rate. Since evidence on exercise therapy in MM patients remains limited, this study examines feasibility, adherence, and efficacy based on real-life data from an oncologic care structure.Methods: A data evaluation of MM patients who participated in the oncologic exercise and movement therapy (OTT) at the Cologne University Hospital between 2012 and 2019 was conducted. The patient flow was incrementally reduced to four cohorts, intention-to-treat cohort (ITTC), safety cohort (SC), adherence cohort (AC) and efficacy cohort (EC). Cohorts were evaluated descriptively and by means of correlation analysis as well as group and, time comparisons. Results: 30 patients registered at the OTT between 2012 and 2019 (ITTC). The SC (N = 26) attended exercise therapy on average about one session per week over a period of eight month. One third dropped-out within three months. In the AC (N = 15) BMI at baseline exhibited a strong and very significant negative correlation with exercise adherence. In the EC (N = 8), a significant improvement in physical functioning and a tendency towards significance in fatigue reduction between two measurement points was observed. No adverse events were documented. Conclusions: The present study reveals safety, feasibility and promising findings on adherence and efficacy of exercising MM patients under real-life therapy circumstances. Potential obstacles to exercising such as high BMI might indicate hints for future research. Improvements in physical functioning and tendencies in fatigue reduction should be examined in confirmatory study designs.