Assessment of the effects of walking as an exercise intervention for children and adolescents with cancer: A feasibility study

PURPOSE To examine the effects of walking exercise on exercise tolerance, fatigue, sleep quality, and quality of life (QOL) for children and adolescents with cancer. METHODS A 6-week walking exercise regimen was implemented in pediatric hematological and oncological wards and in clinics of a medical center in Taiwan. A 6-min walk test (6MWT), fatigue, sleep quality, and QOL were measured at baseline and for six subsequent weeks. RESULTS Adherence to the walking exercise regimen was achieved by 72-89% of the participants in this study. Significant improvements in exercise tolerance were observed after two weeks and they continued through week 6 (F = 17.07, p