Background: Individuals diagnosed with haematological malignancy (HM) experience significant declines in physical function (PF) due to the biological nature of the malignancy and chemotherapeutic agents. With promising evidence supporting the efficacy of exercise performed throughout the cancer treatment trajectory for solid tumours, the application for HM is not yet clear.
Objective: To evaluate the efficacy of exercise to improve PF in HM adult patients throughout the treatment trajectory.
Method: A systematic review with multilevel meta-analysis was conducted. Four electronic medical databases were searched; MEDLINE (EBSCOhost), CINAHL, Scopus and CENTRAL for randomised control trials (RCTs)of exercise interventions implemented during, or post-treatment for adults diagnosed with a HM subtype of leukaemia, lymphoma or multiple myeloma with an outcome measure of PF.
Results: Twelve studies with a total of 812 participants were included in our systematic review. Analysis of 36 dependent effect sizes from nine studies revealed structured exercise interventions improved PF (SMD = 0.39; 95%CI 0.21 to 0.57) compared to usual care or an active control. Exercise prescription that included a multimodal design consisting of aerobic and resistance exercise had a significant effect on PF (p < 0.001), while exercise intensity had a significant effect when prescribed at a moderate (p = 0.003) and vigorous (p < 0.001) intensity.
Conclusion: This meta-analysis provides initial evidence for clinicians to recommend supervised moderate-vigorous intensity exercise with a multimodal design to improve PF in adults with a HM. Future research should aim to identify optimal prescription guidelines throughout the treatment trajectory.