Evaluation of fitness levels of children with a diagnosis of acute leukemia and lymphoma after completion of chemotherapy and autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation

Abstract

The aim of this study was to assess the fitness levels and possible deficits in physical performance in children with a diagnosis of childhood acute leukemia and lymphoma after 10 months of therapy ending through a specific test battery. A total of 58 subjects were enrolled in this study. The experimental group (EG) (7.55 ± 2.43 years; 41.8 ± 16.37 kg; 144.6 ± 10.21 cm) consisted of 18 children with diagnosed leukemia and lymphoma after completion of 10 months of therapy intervention and 40 healthy children who were enrolled in a control group (CG) (7.92 ± 1.78 years; 37.4 ± 12.37 kg; 140.6 ± 12.61 cm). A testing battery including the standing broad jump; the sit-up test; the 4 × 10 m shuttle run test, and the hand grip strength test were administered to both groups. An unpaired t-test was adopted to determine differences and the Pearson product moment was administered when appropriate. Results of the EG were generally lower when compared to the CG. Significant differences were identified for the standing broad jump (P < 0.05); 4 × 10 m shuttle run (P < 0.05); hand grip test DX (P < 0.05), and hand grip test SX (P < 0.05). No significant differences were found between the sit-up tests. Pearson product moment correlation revealed a good interaction for all EG participants. Findings suggest that the proposed testing battery could be an appropriate tool to evaluate residual fitness levels in children with previous hematological malignancies. However, our results have to be confirmed with a larger number of participants with the same diagnosis of our EG.

Keywords: Cancer; fitness; fitness tests; leukemia; lymphoma.