The aim was to assess the level of physical activity and the quality of life of children undergoing cancer treatment, during and after the completion of the treatment. Eighty-eight children aged 11–15 were enrolled. Three groups of children were assessed, i.e., children undergoing cancer treatment (n = 30), children after cancer treatment (n = 28), and healthy children (n = 30). The level of physical activity in children was assessed using the questions from the Health Behavior in School-Aged Children (HBSC) questionnaire. The assessment of children’s quality of life was conducted using the KIDSCREEN-10 Index. The chi-square test was used to assess the statistical significance of the differences in the results between the study groups in the case of both HBSC and KIDSCREEN-10 questionnaires. Children undergoing cancer treatment did not perform any physical activity of at least 60 min (in total) per day, during the week. Therefore, they did not meet the recommendations related to the appropriate level of daily physical activity (Moderate-to-Vigorous Physical Activity; MVPA). Children after cancer treatment and healthy children significantly more frequently undertook physical activity. The quality of life of children with cancer is significantly lower and different from the quality of life of healthy children.
BackgroundAppropriately selected complementary therapies, such as virtual reality (VR) and active video games (AVG), provide support to young patients during the process of cancer treatment. Therefore, this systematic review with meta-analysis aimed to analyze the effects of VR and AVG on fear, physical functions, and quality of life.MethodsA systematic search was performed independently in Scopus, PubMed, Embase, Web of Science and Cochrane Library electronic databases for relevant randomized controlled and crossover studies. From a total of 5,963 records, 11 met the inclusion criteria. After full-text screening two publications were excluded, yet six studies were included in the quantitative analysis because three studies had a large discrepancy in their measured outcomes. For methodological quality assessments, the RoB2 software program was used, while RevMan 5.4.1 was used for statistical analysis and meta-analysis. Standard Mean Difference (SMD) outcome measures were used for the analysis. Statistical heterogeneity was assessed using the I2 statistic with a cut-off value of 50% considering intervention and outcome measures.ResultsOur systematic review includes six randomized controlled studies and three randomized crossover studies. The participants represented both sexes and were children and adolescents (<18 years old) with a diagnosis of cancer. The analysis of the results allows for a careful conclusion that VR has the potential to become an accessory tool in rehabilitation and oncologic treatment. All of the included studies noted a significant advantage of this intervention.ConclusionVR has the potential to be an effective and important tool in the oncologic treatment of children. VR immerses the patient, and as a result, produces a distraction that effectively reduces pain associated with standard oncologic care procedures in children. However, this systematic review and meta-analysis highlights the need for more research into the use of VR as support for pediatric oncologic care.Systematic review registrationPROSPERO database (https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/display_record.php?RecordID=319000), CRD42022319000.
Physical activity is crucial in reducing the risk of civilisation diseases: type 2 diabetes, hypertension, obesity, osteoporosis, cancer, and depression. An adequate level of physical activity during childhood prevents the development of early atherosclerotic lesions, which result from obesity, hypertension, and dyslipidaemia, frequently appearing amongst children. Most children do not meet the basic physical activity guidelines. Children spend most of their time in a sitting position, which reduces their daily energy expenditure. Interactive video games (IVG) can be an alternative and attractive form of spending free time, which may contribute to reduction of children's sedentary behaviour. The use of IVG in preventive health programs can become a way to increase the level of physical activity and reduce cardiometabolic risk factors. The aim of this study is to review the research on the impact of the IVG on the level of physical activity, sedentary behaviour, and energy expenditure of healthy children.
Despite the beneficial effect of exercise, children treated for cancer do not engage in sufficient physical activity. It is necessary to search for attractive forms of physical activity, including interactive video games (IVGs). The aim of this study was to verify the effectiveness of the rehabilitation model developed by the authors based on the use of IVGs in children undergoing leukemia treatment. The study included a group of 21 children aged 7–13 years (12 boys, 9 girls) undergoing treatment for acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) (n = 13) and acute myeloid leukemia (AML) (n = 8). The children were randomly assigned to an intervention group and a control group. To assess the level of cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF), each child participated in a Cardiopulmonary Exercise Test. Daily physical activity was assessed using the HBSC questionnaire. The study also used the Children’s Effort Rating Table Scale (CERT) to assess the intensity of physical effort. The children in the intervention group participated in 12 sessions of. The study participants managed to complete all stages of a progressive training program, which confirmed the feasibility of such physical effort by patients with cancer. Pediatric patients reported that the IVG training required a light to moderate physical effort despite high values of energy expenditure (EE).
Introduction. Childhood cancer treatment is aggressive and may lead to a significant limitation of physical activity as well as deterioration of children's quality of life. Anticancer treatment, though it saves health and life, also leads to problems resulting from the lack of sufficient physical activity. The aim of the study was to assess the level of the physical activity and quality of life in children undergoing leukaemia treatment and examine if there was a correlation between these two. Methods. Anonymous surveys were conducted. The quality of children's lives was assessed with the KidSCREEN-10 questionnaire. The level of physical activity was determined with the use of questions from the Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) questionnaire. Results. A study group of 30 children undergoing stationary leukaemia treatment and a control group of 30 healthy children were examined. None of the treated children made a physical effort lasting at least 60 minutes a day; 77% of them did not perform any intense physical effort. All the children undergoing leukaemia treatment showed malaise and low quality of life.No correlation was observed between the level of physical activity and life quality among the oncologically treated children. Conclusions. Children treated for leukaemia had a low level of physical activity and life quality. They did not undertake any form of physical activity contributing to the improvement of parameters of exercise capacity. There was no correlation between the level of physical activity and life quality in children treated for leukaemia.
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