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. 2024 Nov 26;32(12):825.
doi: 10.1007/s00520-024-09050-9.

Factors associated with functional ability in patients with esophageal cancer undergoing chemoradiotherapy: a prospective longitudinal study

Han-Yen Lee  1   2 , Bing-Shen Huang  3   4 , Chen-Kan Tseng  3   4 , Ping-Ching Pai  3   4 , Tsung-Min Hung  3   4 , Yin-Kai Chao  3   5 , Shu-Ching Chen  6   7   8   9
Affiliations

Factors associated with functional ability in patients with esophageal cancer undergoing chemoradiotherapy: a prospective longitudinal study

Han-Yen Lee et al. Support Care Cancer. .

Abstract

Purpose: During and after treatment, esophageal cancer (EC) patients experience changes in body mass index (BMI), performance status, nutrition status, symptom distress, and physical fitness. This study aims to evaluate temporal changes and their associated factors in BMI, performance status, nutrition status, symptom distress, physical fitness, and functional ability in EC patients during and after treatment.

Methods: This prospective longitudinal study recruited EC patients from a medical center in Northern Taiwan. The 100 EC patients were assessed before treatment (T0), 1 month after starting treatment (T1), 3 months after starting treatment (end of treatment) (T2), and 6 months after starting treatment (T3). Generalized estimating equation analysis was used to determine the factors associated with changes in functional ability over time.

Results: Patient nutrition status was lowest before treatment and then increased by 6 months after treatment. Symptom distress slightly decreased from before treatment to 3 months after treatment, rising at 6 months after treatment but not reaching baseline (T0). Functional ability increased from before treatment to 1 month after treatment and then declined at 3 months after starting treatment, increasing at 6 months to below baseline (T0). Patients who had a BMI less than 25 kg/m2, engaged less in physical activity, and were less physically fit were more likely to have worse functional ability.

Conclusion: BMI, level of physical activity, and the degree of physical fitness were the important factors associated with functional ability in EC patients. Healthcare professionals should design patient-tailored prehabilitation programs in advance to strengthen physical fitness.

Keywords: Esophageal cancer; Longitudinal studies; Nutritional status; Physical ability; Physical fitness; Symptom distress.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declarations. Ethics approval: All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the University of Wisconsin Health Sciences IRB (Number 201801842B0) and with the 1964 Helsinki Declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. Consent to participate: Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study. Consent for publication: This manuscript is original, is not plagiarized, and has not been published elsewhere. This manuscript is not under consideration for publication in another journal and will not be submitted elsewhere until the Supportive Care in Cancer editorial process is completed. All authors consent to the publication of the manuscript in Supportive Care in Cancer should the article be accepted by the Editor-in-chief upon completion. Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests.

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