Exercise therapy in women who have had breast cancer: design of the Sheffield women's exercise and well-being project

Recovering from cancer treatment can be a difficult experience, both physically and psychologically. This paper describes a randomized controlled trial that evaluates the effects of exercise therapy upon quality of life in 120 women who have had breast cancer. To facilitate behaviour change, exercise counselling is also included as an integral component in the exercise therapy intervention. Participants are randomized to one of three groups: exercise therapy, body conditioning (placebo control) or a normal care control group. The supervised exercise therapy and body conditioning sessions take place 3 times per week for 8 weeks. Outcome measures include quality of life, physical self-perceptions, depression, satisfaction with life, exercise behaviour, aerobic capacity and percentage body fat. All outcomes are assessed at baseline, 4 weeks during the intervention and at the end of the 8-week intervention. Follow-up assessments of outcomes take place at 3 and 6 months post-intervention. As the number of women surviving breast cancer is increasing and cancer treatment is linked to reduced quality of life, it is critical to evaluate treatments that improve the quality of life of this population or hasten recovery following treatment.