Displaying 1 - 2 of 2
Purpose Fatigue is an important problem in children receiving intensive chemotherapy and hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). Exercise may be an effective intervention for fatigue. Individualized yoga represents an ideal intervention because it can be tailored according to an individual child's needs. Little is known about how to structure a standardized yoga program for intensivelytreated children. Therefore, this study describes the development of a yoga program and an approach to monitoring sessions suitable for hospitalized children receiving intensive chemotherapy or HSCT. Methods The yoga program was designed to increase mobility in hospitalized children and to provide children with relaxation techniques that could be used independently in a variety of environments. The program was founded on 4 key tenets: safety, adaptability, environmental flexibility, and appeal to children. We also developed quality and consistency assurance procedures. Results A menu format with a fixed structure was selected for the yoga program. Each yoga session contained up to 6 sections: breathing exercises, warmup exercises, yoga poses, balancing poses, cool-down poses, and final relaxation. Yoga instructors selected specific yoga poses for each session from a predetermined list organized by intensity level (low, moderate, or high). Monitoring procedures were developed using videotaping and multirater adjudication. Conclusion We created a standardized yoga program and an approach to monitoring that are now ready for incorporation in clinical trials. Future work should include the adaptation of the program to different pediatric populations and clinical settings.
BACKGROUND: Fatigue is an important problem in paediatric cancer patients and yoga may be an effective intervention. The primary objective was to determine the feasibility of individualized yoga for hospitalized children receiving intensive chemotherapy. METHODS: We included English-speaking children and adolescents aged 7-18 years receiving intensive chemotherapy or haematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). Yoga was conducted three times weekly for three weeks. The primary outcome was feasibility, defined as ability to deliver at least 60% of planned sessions. Secondary outcomes were parent-reported Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory (PedsQL) Multidimensional Fatigue Scale, Fatigue Scale-Parent, PedsQL Generic Core Scales and PedsQL Acute Cancer Module. RESULTS: Between January and October 2013, 11 patients were enrolled. Median age was 14.0 (range 7.7-16.4) years and 6 (55%) were boys. Yoga was feasible with 10/11 participants meeting the threshold for feasibility. The median number of yoga sessions was 9 (range 3-13). No adverse events were attributed to yoga. Mean+/-standard deviation for the day 21 proxy-reported PedsQL general fatigue scores was 55.6+/-15.5. Qualitative comments suggested design changes for future yoga studies. CONCLUSIONS: Individualized yoga is feasible for inpatient children receiving intensive chemotherapy. Future work will include development and conduct of a randomized trial for fatigue amelioration. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT02105389.