Major surgery has been linked to running a marathon as in both represent large endeavours where the body will experience an increase in demands to supply the necessary energy. It has been alledged that, as one would train to prepare for a marathon, the same should be applied to surgery. The process of getting ready and/or fitter for surgery is frequently referred to as prehabilitation and it usually involves interventions on improving nutrition and diet, getting fit and improve emotional wellness. Prehabilitation can improve the recovery after surgery and reduce the time spent in hospital afterwards. This research seeks to determine whether a home based program of increased physical activity and breathing training can improve patients' physical and respiratory function in preparation for lung cancer surgery.
Patients with lung cancer who are scheduled to undergo lung resection surgery will be provided with a digitally-enabled, remotely-monitored prehablitation program. The intervention will consist of the following components: i) general education; ii) inspiratory muscle training; iii) physical activity coaching; and iv) home-based exercise training. The program will be supported with a mobile app and weekly telehealth sessions with one experienced physiotherapist. Participants will be assessed at baseline and at the end of the intervention, prior to surgery. Participants will be contacted and scheduled to undergo face-to-face assessments on lung function, respiratory muscle strength, and functional capacity both at baseline and after the prehabilitation program.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
NA
Purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
NONE
Enrollment
25
Patients will undergo a physiotherapy-led digitally-enabled prehabilitation program before lung resection surgery. The intervention will be delivered through a mobile app and supported by tele-health and will consist of: i) watching six educational videos embedded on the app on relevant topics to prepare for surgery, such as the importance of physical fitness, breathing exercises after surgery, and pain management. ii) a physical activity coaching program to increase daily activity with feedback iii) a home-based, unsupervised exercise program consisting of 10 whole body strengthening exercises delivered in a video format iv) an inspiratory muscle training program using a hand-held device to be performed twice daily.
The University of Melbourne, Department of Physiotherapy
Parkville, Victoria, Australia
RECRUITINGFeasibility of the intervention
Feasibility of the intervention determined by enrolment rate (number of patients who accept participation in the trial vs. number of eligible patients)
Time frame: From enrollment to the end of the study approximately one week after surgery
App usability and acceptability
The app usability will be measured with a questionnaire (the mHealth App Usability Questionnaire). The questionnaire consists of 21 items on a likert scale ranging from 1 (disagree) to 7 (agree) assessing different domains of a mHealth app. A median of 4.5 out of 7 across all domains will be considered as high usability and acceptability.
Time frame: Within one week before surgery
Safety of the intervention
Adverse events, defined as any unexpected, undesirable event, such as injury, fall, and discomfort related to prehabilitation program will be recorded weekly through telehealth. They will be classified according to the Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events (NCI-CTCAE) version 5.
Time frame: From enrollment to the end of the program before surgery
Inspiratory Muscle Strength
Maximal inspiratory pressure (MIP) registered at the mouth will be recorded using a specific device (BHC RP Check, Bird Health Care Australia).
Time frame: Within one week before surgery
Diaphragmatic excursion and thickness
Diaphragmatic excurssion will be measured with through Point of Care Ultrasound (POCUS) both at normal breathing and maximal inspiration. Diaphragmatic thickness will also be measured.
Time frame: Within one week before surgery
Lung function
Lung function parameters including forced vital capacity (FVC) and forced expiratory volume in the first second (FEV1) will be collected during a forced spirometry test. The tests will be conducted according to the international recommendations from the ATS/ERS.
Time frame: Within one week before surgery
Self-efficacy
Patient's perception of self-efficacy will be measured using a validated questionnaire (General Self-Efficacy Scale). The scale is 10-item each one measured on a likert-scale from 1 to 4. Total scores range from 10 to 40 with higher scores indicating higher self-efficacy.
Time frame: Within one week before surgery
Participant satisfaction
Participants' satisfaction with the intervention will be measured through the Australian Hospital Patient Experience Question Set (AHPEQS). The AHPEQS is a 12-item questionnaire with each question assessed on a likert-scale which measures the satisfaction with a healthcare intervention. There is no scoring for this scale.
Time frame: Within one week before surgery
Health Related Quality of Life
Heaht-related quality of life will be assessed using a validated questionnaire specific to cancer patients from the European Organization of Research in Cancer Treatment (EORTC QLQ C30). The questionnaire will be self-administered and consists of 30 questions on several domains of physical functioning, emotional functioning and cancer-related symptoms. Two main subscales are obtained from the questionnaire (one in function, one in symptoms) plus one item on global health. The score ranges from 0 to 100 with higher scores representing higher self-reported quality of life or higher symptom burden.
Time frame: Within one week before surgery
Recovery from surgery
Self-reported recovery from surgery will be measured using a validated questionnaire (the Quality of Recovery Questionnaire - QoR15).
Time frame: Within one week before surgery
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