The effects of combined exercise intervention based on Internet and social media software for postoperative patients with breast cancer: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial

BACKGROUND: Many randomized controlled trials have investigated the effects of exercise on the rehabilitation of patients with breast cancer. However, the exercise forms used in most previous studies were monotonous. Therefore, we designed a protocol to estimate the effects of combined exercise intervention using Internet and social media software on the rehabilitation of postoperative patients with BC. METHODS/DESIGN: This study protocol is a randomized control trial with an intervention time of 12 weeks. After completing baseline questionnaire and physical fitness tests, the participants are randomized to the study group or the control group. Procedure contents of exercise intervention in the study group include: via phone step-recording app, ask the individuals to complete the target number of steps within a specified period of exercise, four times per week; face-to-face remote video guidance of individuals on muscle training, three times per week; common knowledge of physical exercise BC rehabilitation will be pushed regularly by social media apps every day. The control group will receive normal treatment and rehabilitation according to daily specifications of the hospital. The primary outcome will be the quality of life. The secondary outcomes are physical fitness and social cognitive indicators. DISCUSSION: This study is a clinical trial to estimate the effects of combined exercise intervention based on the Internet and social media software for postoperative patients with breast cancer (BC). If expected results are achieved in this study, measures and methods of BC rehabilitation will be enriched. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Chinese Clinical Trial Register, ChiCTR-IPR-17012368. Registered on 14 August 2017. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (10.1186/s13063-018-2857-3) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.