Nonpharmacologic Interventions to Improve Postural Control Among Breast Cancer Survivors with Chemotherapy-induced Neuropathy

Research

Objectives: To evaluate the effect of partnered tango dance (TEX) [1] compared to that of home exercise (HEX) as nonpharmacologic interventions for postural control in breast cancer (BC) survivors with chemotherapy-induced neuropathy (CIN).

Design: Interventional clinical trial. Postural control was measured on a portable balance plate during 30 seconds of quiet bilateral standing with eyes closed (QEC). We measured postural control in both TEX and HEX using a repeated baseline design pre-, during, at endpoint, and at 1 month follow-up of intervention [2]. Participants were randomly assigned (1:1) to TEX or HEX interventions. Intervention effects are reported as change relative to estimated mean baseline (Δ estimated (standard error)) and assessed using a linear mixed model.
Setting: Community cancer survivorship facility at OSU.
Participants: 52 BC survivors with patient-reported CIN and documented postural control deficits [3] consented to participate.
Interventions: All interventions lasted for 1-hour at a frequency of 2 times per week for 8 weeks (primary endpoint).
Main Outcome Measures: A biomechanical measure of future fall risk (i.e. Resultant postural sway amplitude (RMSr)).

Results: After 8 weeks of intervention, postural control improved in both HEX (p = 0.0076) and TEX groups (p = 0.0045). At 1 month follow-up, postural control improvements were not retained in HEX (p = 0.944), whereas the postural control improvements were retained in TEX (p < 0.0001).

Conclusions: While 8 weeks of nonpharmacologic, activity-based intervention improved postural control improvements among BC survivors with CIN, TEX evidenced better retention than HEX. Quantifying change in postural control over the course of intervention provided insight into the shift in neuromotor behavior that is possible with activity-based interventions.
Author(s) Disclosures: This study was funded by the National Institutes of Health grant# R21-AG068831-01A1 and the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences grant# UL1TR001070. LWC receives royalties from Games That Move You.