Physical exercise in patients with testicular cancer treated with bleomycin, etoposide and cisplatin chemotherapy: pulmonary and vascular endothelial function-an exploratory analysis.

Purpose: Bleomycin, etoposide, and cisplatin combination chemotherapy (BEP) improves the survival of patients with testicular cancer, but is associated with potentially life-threatening toxicities like pneumonitis and thromboembolic events. This study explored the effects of physical exercise in patients with testicular cancer during or after BEP-chemotherapy on pulmonary and vascular endothelial toxicity.

Methods: In this post hoc analysis of a multicenter randomized clinical trial (NCT01642680), patients with metastatic testicular cancer scheduled to receive BEP-chemotherapy were randomized to a 24-week exercise intervention, initiated during (group A) or after BEP-chemotherapy (group B).

Optimal Timing of a Physical Exercise Intervention to Improve Cardiorespiratory Fitness: During or After Chemotherapy.

Background: Despite the widely acknowledged benefit of exercise for patients with cancer, little evidence on the optimal timing of exercise on adverse effects of cancer treatment is available.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to determine whether an exercise intervention initiated during chemotherapy is superior to an intervention initiated after chemotherapy for improving long-term cardiorespiratory fitness (peak oxygen uptake [VO]).

Methods: In this prospective, randomized clinical trial, patients scheduled to receive curative chemotherapy were randomized to a 24-week exercise intervention, initiated either during chemotherapy (group A) or afterward (group B).

Interobserver and intraobserver reliabilities of determining the ventilatory thresholds in subjects with a lower limb amputation and able-bodied subjects during a peak exercise test on the combined arm-leg (Cruiser) ergometer.

The first (VT1) and second ventilator (VT2) (anaerobic) thresholds are used to individually prescribe exercise training programs. The purpose of this research was to analyze inter- and intraobserver reliabilities of determining VT1 and VT2 in subjects with lower limb amputation (LLA) and able-bodied (AB) subjects during a peak exercise test on the arm-leg (Cruiser) ergometer. Previously published data of exercise tests on the Cruiser ergometer of subjects with LLA ( n = 17) and AB subjects ( n = 30) were analyzed twice by two observers.

The added value of ultrasound muscle measurements in patients with COPD: An exploratory study.

Background And Aims: Malnutrition and sarcopenia are common nutrition (-related) disorders in patients with COPD and are associated with negative health outcomes and mortality. This study aims to correlate ultrasound measured rectus femoris size with fat-free mass and muscle function in patients with COPD.

Methods: Patients with COPD, at the start of a pulmonary rehabilitation program, were asked to participate in this study.

Feasibility, safety, and reliability of exercise testing using the combined arm-leg (Cruiser) ergometer in subjects with a lower limb amputation.

Background: Physical fitness of patients with a lower limb amputation predicts their walking ability and may be improved by physical exercise and training. A maximal exercise test is recommended prior to training in order to determine cardiovascular risks and design exercise programs. A potentially suitable ergometer for maximal exercise testing in patients with a lower limb amputation is the combined arm-leg (Cruiser) ergometer.

Dietary resilience in patients with severe COPD at the start of a pulmonary rehabilitation program.

Background: COPD may impact food-related activities, such as grocery shopping, cooking, and eating. Decreased food intake may result in an unhealthy diet, and in malnutrition, which is highly prevalent in patients with COPD. Malnutrition is known to negatively impact clinical outcome and quality of life.

Identifying Patients with COPD in Need for Psychosocial Care Through Screening with the HSCL-25 and the CCQ Mental State.

High levels of psychological distress are documented in patients with COPD. This study investigates the extent to which patients with a high score on the Hopkins Symptoms Checklist-25 (HSCL-25) or with a high score on the Mental State scale of the Clinical COPD Questionnaire (CCQ) endorse a need for psychosocial care, and investigates several characteristics of patients with a need. Outpatients with COPD of the Department of Pulmonary Diseases of a University Medical Center were assessed with the HSCL-25, CCQ and a question on need for psychosocial care.

Variation in the HFE gene is associated with the development of bleomycin-induced pulmonary toxicity in testicular cancer patients.

Background: Bleomycin and cisplatin are of key importance in testicular cancer treatment. Known potential serious adverse effects are bleomycin-induced pulmonary toxicity (BIP) and cisplatin-induced renal toxicity. Iron handling may play a role in development of this toxicity.

Changes in the endurance shuttle walk test in COPD patients with chronic respiratory failure after pulmonary rehabilitation: the minimal important difference obtained with anchor- and distribution-based method.

Background: Although the endurance shuttle walk test (ESWT) has proven to be responsive to change in exercise capacity after pulmonary rehabilitation (PR) for COPD, the minimally important difference (MID) has not yet been established. We aimed to establish the MID of the ESWT in patients with severe COPD and chronic hypercapnic respiratory failure following PR.

Methods: Data were derived from a randomized controlled trial, investigating the value of noninvasive positive pressure ventilation added to PR.

Short- and long-term effects of a physical activity counselling programme in COPD: a randomized controlled trial.

Background: We were interested in the effects of a physical activity (PA) counselling programme in three groups of COPD patients from general practice (primary care), outpatient clinic (secondary care) and pulmonary rehabilitation (PR).

Methods: In this randomized controlled trial 155 COPD patients, 102 males, median (IQR) age 62 (54-69) y, FEV1predicted 60 (40-75) % were assigned to a 12-weeks' physical activity counselling programme or usual care. Physical activity (pedometer (Yamax SW200) and metabolic equivalents), exercise capacity (6-min walking distance) and quality of life (Chronic Respiratory Questionnaire and Clinical COPD Questionnaire) were assessed at baseline, after three and 15 months.

Predictors of all-cause mortality in patients with stable COPD: medical co-morbid conditions or high depressive symptoms.

Co-morbid conditions are frequently found in patients with COPD. We evaluate the association of co-morbidities with mortality, in stable COPD. 224 patients, mean age 61.

Adherence to a maintenance exercise program 1 year after pulmonary rehabilitation: what are the predictors of dropout?

Purpose: To evaluate adherence to a maintenance exercise program in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and explore predictors for adherence.

Methods: Seventy patients with COPD were referred to a home-care maintenance exercise program after completing pulmonary rehabilitation (PR) in the rehabilitation center. Adherence (yes/no) to the maintenance program was assessed by a self-reported questionnaire, where adherence was defined as attending the maintenance program 1 year after PR.

Functional and psychological variables both affect daily physical activity in COPD: a structural equations model.

Background: Daily physical activity (DPA) level is reduced in patients with COPD. The aim of this study was to investigate the association of DPA with functional and psychological variables in these patients.

Methods: 155 COPD patients (102 males, median (IQR) age 62 years (54-69 years), predicted FEV1 60% (40-75%) were included.

Discrepancies between patients' and partners' perceptions of unsupportive behavior in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

The literature on chronic diseases indicates that partner support, as perceived by patients, contributes to well-being of patients in either a positive or a negative way. Previous studies indicated that patients' and partners' perceptions of unsupportive partner behavior are only moderately related. Our aim was (1) to investigate whether discrepancies between patients' and partners' perceptions of two types of unsupportive partner behavior-overprotection and protective buffering-were associated with the level of distress reported by patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and (2) to evaluate whether the direction of the differences between patients' and partners' perceptions was associated with distress (i.

A better response in exercise capacity after pulmonary rehabilitation in more severe COPD patients.

Purpose: Pulmonary rehabilitation (PR) has positive effects on exercise capacity in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD). However, not all COPD patients benefit from PR to the same extent. We investigated whether there is a patient profile, which is associated with the improvement in endurance exercise capacity.

Two-year home-based nocturnal noninvasive ventilation added to rehabilitation in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patients: a randomized controlled trial.

Background: The use of noninvasive intermittent positive pressure ventilation (NIPPV) in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients with chronic hypercapnic respiratory failure remains controversial as long-term data are almost lacking. The aim was to compare the outcome of 2-year home-based nocturnal NIPPV in addition to rehabilitation (NIPPV + PR) with rehabilitation alone (PR) in COPD patients with chronic hypercapnic respiratory failure.

Methods: Sixty-six patients could be analyzed for the two-year home-based follow-up period.

Daily physical activity in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: a systematic review.

Patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) are often limited in their daily physical activity. However, the level, type and intensity of daily physical activity are not known, nor there is a clear insight in the contributing factors. The aim of this review is to describe daily physical activity of COPD patients, and to examine its relationship with demographic factors, pulmonary function, physical fitness, systemic inflammation and quality of life.

Relationship between anxiety and dyspnea on exertion in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Dyspnea limits exercise in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and is known to induce anxiety. Little is known whether anxiety contributes to exercise-induced dyspnea, which in turn might influence the outcome of diagnostic tests. The aim of the present study was to examine the relationship between general anxiety and dyspnea on exertion in patients with COPD.

More evidence that depressive symptoms predict mortality in COPD patients: is type D personality an alternative explanation?

Background/purpose: The present study attempted to replicate our previous finding that depressive symptoms are a risk factor for mortality in stable chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), but in a different population with a different measure of depressive symptoms. We further investigated whether type D personality is associated with mortality in patients with COPD and whether it explains any relationship observed between depressive symptoms and mortality.

Methods: In 122 COPD patients, mean age 60.

Repeatability and validity of the combined arm-leg (Cruiser) ergometer.

The measurement of physical fitness of lower limb amputees is difficult, as the commonly used ergometer tests have limitations. A combined arm-leg (Cruiser) ergometer might be valuable. The aim of this study was to establish the repeatability and validity of the combined arm-leg (Cruiser) ergometer.

Depressive symptoms as predictors of mortality in patients with COPD.

Objective: Prognostic studies of mortality in patients with COPD have mostly focused on physiologic variables, with little attention to depressive symptoms. This stands in sharp contrast to the attention that depressive symptoms have been given in the outcomes of patients with other chronic health conditions. The present study investigated the independent association of depressive symptoms in stable patients with COPD with all-cause mortality.

The effects of a lifestyle physical activity counseling program with feedback of a pedometer during pulmonary rehabilitation in patients with COPD: a pilot study.

Objective: To study the effects of a lifestyle physical activity counseling program with feedback of a pedometer during pulmonary rehabilitation.

Methods: Twenty-one chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients were randomized to an experimental group that followed a regular rehabilitation program plus the counseling intervention or to a control group that only followed rehabilitation. The primary outcome was daily physical activity assessed by pedometers.