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Quality of Life

Functional performance status of hematopoietic SCT recipients in the sub-acute phase of recovery

Bone Marrow Transplantation volume 45, pages 755–761 (2010)Cite this article

Abstract

This study assessed the functional capacity of sub-acute SCT recipients using validated physical performance tests, including 6-min walk distance, repeated sit-to-stand time and 50-ft walk time, and compared these outcomes with those reported for a heterogeneous oncology population. The medical records of 80 consecutive sub-acute SCT recipients not receiving corticosteroids were retrospectively reviewed for demographic, medical and anthropometric information, and outcomes for these physical performance tests administered at the time of initial physiotherapy evaluation. Measures of central tendency, 95% confidence intervals, unpaired t-tests and correlation coefficients were calculated using a SPSS statistical package. SCT recipients completed the 50-ft walk in 10.66±4.43 s, repeated sit-to-stand trial in 4.16±1.82 s and walked 400.2 m in 6 min. For the timed tests, SCT recipients were approximately twice as fast as a heterogeneous group of oncology patients and walked approximately 50% further in 6 min. No overlap in the 95% confidence intervals for the two groups was observed for any of the tests. These results (1) suggest that reference values describing the functional capacity of a heterogeneous oncology population underestimate the functional capacity of SCT recipients and (2) provide clinically useful reference values for assessing functional capacity of sub-acute SCT recipients referred for physiotherapy.

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Acknowledgements

The authors wish to express their deep appreciation to the patients and caregivers for their commitment to this program. The authors would also like to acknowledge the efforts of the entire staff of the Ambulatory Treatment Center, the patient care provided by Shammi J Venkatachalam, PT, Nagma Ahmed, PT and BJ Jackson, the editorial assistance provided by Nancy Paddison, PTA, BA, and the graphing assistance of Sijin Wen.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Rehabilitation Services, UT MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA

    G S Morris & J S Scheetz

  2. Department of Physical Therapy, Lynchburg College, Lynchburg, VA, USA

    K E Brueilly

  3. Stem Cell Transplantation,

    E A Brannan

  4. , UT MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA

    E A Brannan

Authors
  1. G S Morris
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  2. K E Brueilly
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  3. J S Scheetz
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  4. E A Brannan
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Correspondence to G S Morris.

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Morris, G., Brueilly, K., Scheetz, J. et al. Functional performance status of hematopoietic SCT recipients in the sub-acute phase of recovery. Bone Marrow Transplant 45, 755–761 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1038/bmt.2009.232

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/bmt.2009.232

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