PURPOSE: This study examines the effects of a rehabilitation program on quality of life (QoL), cardiopulmonary function, and fatigue in breast cancer patients. The program included aerobic exercises as well as stretching and strengthening exercises. METHODS: Breast cancer patients (n=62) who had completed chemotherapy were randomly assigned to an early exercise group (EEG; n=32) or a delayed exercise group (DEG; n=30). The EEG underwent 4 weeks of a multimodal rehabilitation program for 80 min/day, 5 times/wk for 4 weeks. The DEG completed the same program during the next 4 weeks. The European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer-Core Quality of Life Questionnaire (EORTC QLQ-C30), EORTC Breast Cancer-Specific Quality of Life Questionnaire (EORTC QLQ-BR23), predicted maximal volume of oxygen consumption (VO2max), and fatigue severity scale (FSS) were used for assessment at baseline, and at 2, 4, 6, and 8 weeks. RESULTS: After 8 weeks, statistically significant differences were apparent in global health, physical, role, and emotional functions, and cancer-related symptoms such as fatigue and pain, nausea, and dyspnea on the EORTC QLQ-C30; cancer-related symptoms involving the arm and breast on the EORTC QLQ-BR23; the predicted VO2max; muscular strength; and FSS (p<0.050), according to time, between the two groups. CONCLUSION: The results of our study suggest that a supervised multimodal rehabilitation program may improve the physical symptoms, QoL, and fatigue in patients with breast cancer.
Arm ; Breast ; Breast Neoplasms* ; Drug Therapy ; Dyspnea ; Electroencephalography ; Exercise ; Fatigue* ; Humans ; Nausea ; Oxygen Consumption ; Quality of Life* ; Rehabilitation* ; Surveys and Questionnaires

Background: Reducing the total anticholinergic burden (AB) in older adults is recommended owing to the several peripheral and central adverse effects. This study aimed to identify the AB status of patients admitted to geriatric centers for assessing the influence of the pharmacist-involved multidisciplinary geriatric team care on reducing the AB. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of 328 older patients hospitalized in geriatric centers from July 1, 2018 to June 30, 2019, who received comprehensive geriatric assessment and pharmaceutical interventions from a multidisciplinary geriatric team. We measured the total AB scores for the medications at the time of admission and upon hospital discharge using the Korean Anticholinergic Burden Scale (KABS). The pre-admission factors associated with high AB (KABS score ≥3) at the time of admission were identified. Results: The proportion of patients with high AB significantly decreased from 41.8% (136/328) at the time of admission to 25.0% (82/328) on discharge (p<0.001). The pre-admission AB of patients transferred from skilled nursing facilities (odds ratio[OR]: 2.85, 95% CI: 1.26- 3.75), taking more than 10 medications (OR: 3.70, 95% CI: 1.55-8.82), suffering from delirium (OR: 2.80, 95% CI: 1.04-7.50), or depression (OR: 2.78, 95% CI: 1.04-7.41) were significantly high. Antipsychotics were the most frequent classes of drugs that contributed to the total KABS score at the time of admission, followed by antihistamines. Conclusions This study demonstrated that the multidisciplinary teams for geriatric care are effective at reducing AB in older adults. The factors associated with high AB should be considered when targeting pharmaceutical care in geriatric individuals.