Participants and study design
Between April and August 2018, consecutive patients were invited to
attend professionally-supervised sessions of physical exercise in the
hospital gym28 as part of this study. The exercise
sessions each lasted one hour, and included combinations of
cardiovascular training, strength and endurance exercises, relaxation,
and muscle stretching. They were prescribed individually for each
patient, offered three times a week, for a total duration of 6 weeks.
Inclusion criteria were: age ≥5 years and less than 21 years; a
diagnosis of solid cancer; the ability to communicate in Italian. The
only exclusion criterion was the presence of limitations (disability
and/o severe morbidities) preventing any level of physical activity. In
principle, severe disabilities (e.g. lower extremity amputation, or
palsy) were not regarded as a contraindication if patients were able to
exercise with adapted personalized workouts involving the less
compromised parts of their body.
Based on their own decision to join the exercise program or not, the
patients involved in the study formed two groups (GYM and No-GYM,
respectively) and were compared in descriptive terms. Consent to
participation in the study was obtained from all patients and/or their
guardians. The institutional Ethics Committee approved the study (INT
109/18) and the data protection methods.