Henshall CL., Allin L., & Aveyard H. (2018). A systematic review and narrative synthesis to explore the effectiveness of exercise-based interventions in improving fatigue, dyspnea, and depression in lung cancer survivors. Cancer Nursing, 42, 295-306.
Dimeo et al. (2004): After three weeks of exercises and relaxation, no significant results were noted for dyspnea, but were significant for fatigue (p = 0.67 and 0.54)
Glattki et al. (2012): In a study with pulmonary rehab measured using modified research council (MRC), the dyspnea scale was significant (p = 0.007, 0.26, SD = 0.61) for improvement in dyspnea.
Peddle-McIntyre et al. (2012): The MRC dyspnea scale was measured after 10 weeks and was not significant (pre = 1.6, SD = 0.6; post = 1.4, SD = 0.8).
Riesenberg and Lubbe (2010): The study showed significant improvements in dyspnea after four weeks of QLQ testing (p < 0.001) and also for fatigue (mean difference = -13.7).
Spruit et al. (2006): Using the BORG scale, no significant difference was found (p = 0.2969)
Overall, six studies reported statistically significant reductions in fatigue, two reported significant improvement in dyspnea, and one had significant reduction in depression.
Although there were some studies that showed that exercise interventions could possibly be effective for relief of symptoms such as dyspnea, the results were mixed, and there are unclear variations between programs and high dropout rates, so no recommendations can be made based on this particular analysis.
Nurses should be aware that there is the possibility that exercise may benefit some patients, and there is little risk of harm, but nurses should be aware that it is unclear what patients or what programs would be of benefit; therefore, no recommendations can be made at this time.