Effectiveness of home-based exercise in breast cancer survivors: a randomized clinical trial

BACKGROUND: Breast cancer patients are recommended to engage in regular exercise. In developing countries, where there is a lack of facilities to offer specialized, supervised exercise for this population, regularly exercising might be a challenge. We aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of a home-based intervention in this population. METHODS: Breast cancer survivors were randomly assigned to either the home-based exercise program or the usual care group. Exercise intervention included walking, balance, and stretch exercises, along with weekly follow-up telephone calls. Quality of life (QOL) was evaluated using EORTC QLQ-C30 and EORTC QLQ-BR23 questionnaires and the predicted VO(2) peak was measured using the Ebbeling submaximal treadmill test. RESULTS: Eighty-nine patients were enrolled in the study. Reported minutes of exercise gradually increased from 40.7 min per week in week 1 to 116.9 min per week in week 12. This intervention improved global QOL (P = 0.001), social functioning (P = 0.04), and the predicted VO(2) peak (P = 0.01). CONCLUSION: This home-based exercise regime effectively increased quality of life and physical activity levels. TRIAL REGISTRY: Iranian Registry of Clinical Trials identifier: IRCT20140810018746N1, prospectively registered 08/01/2018, https://en.irct.ir/trial/27959. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s13102-023-00710-7.