Statistical methods
The results obtained from the questionnaires were analyzed using
classical descriptive statistics for the study population as a whole,
and by study group to compare patients who attended the gym (GYM group)
with those who did not (No-GYM group). The scores were calculated with
the PedsQL™ 4.0 scoring algorithm, and the medians and interquartile
ranges (IQR) were reported for each item and each dimension, and for
total scores (if any), for each PedsQL questionnaire.
Differences between the two groups in terms of patients’
characteristics, and their scores in the questionnaires (by single
dimension and total scores) were assessed with Fisher’s exact test or
the Wilcoxon test. Possible correlations between total scores (for
physical health, psychosocial health, and fatigue) were computed using
Pearson’s correlation index.
The statistical analyses were performed with SAS™ (SAS Institute, Cary,
NC) and R software (R Foundation for Statistical Computing, Vienna,
Austria).