Effectiveness of moderate walking exercise program (mwep) on fatigue and quality of sleep among cancer patients receiving chemo-radiation

Introduction: Fatigue and poor sleep is highly prevalent in cancer patients receiving chemo-radiation and it has a significant impact on patient’s quality of life. In literature, exercise has been recognized as one of the most effective intervention to combat against these commonest symptoms either related to cancer or its therapy. Aim: Keeping the importance of exercise during cancer therapy in mind, study is aimed to assess the effectiveness of ‘moderate walking exercise program (MWEP)’ on fatigue and quality of sleep among cancer patients receiving chemo-radiation in a tertiary care hospital of Punjab, India. Material and Method: A quasi-experimental, two group pre-test post-test control group design was adopted to collect the data from 60 conveniently selected eligible adult cancer patients who were receiving chemo-radiation in selected study setting. Ludwig Von Bertalanffy General System Model (1968) was adopted to guide the study. Data were collected using socio-demographic profile sheet, BFI (Brief Fatigue Inventory) and VSH (VerranSynydern and Halpern) Sleep Scale. Result: Study revealed that the fatigue scores of cancer patients significantly lowered (p≤0.05) following the intervention of MWEP on 15th day of the chemo-radiation. MWEP also found to improve sleep quality on 15th day during chemo-radiation (p≤0.05). Conclusion: Study concludes that the moderate walking exercise program is very effective as an intervention to reduce fatigue and improve quality of sleep and should be followed by cancer patients receiving combined chemotherapy and radiation therapy treatment. Recommendations: MWEP should be followed by cancer patients to manage fatigue and decreased quality of sleep. Nurses should be highly involved in oncology wards for encouraging the patients to sustain MWEP in order to improve quality of life.