Self-management online shoulder exercising after breast cancer surgery
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Designing, developing and testing a web-based tailored intervention for self-management exercising to enable optimal shoulder and arm outcomes after surgery for breast cancer
IRAS ID
240151
Contact name
Daniel Kerr
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Ulster University
Duration of Study in the UK
2 years, 11 months, 30 days
Research summary
Breast cancer (BC) has the highest incidence of all cancers in women in the United Kingdom (UK). The survival rates of the female BC population in the UK have also increased. As part of their treatment, 81.2% of these patients receive a breast surgery (Cancer Research UK 2016). Despite being a successful component in treating cancer, most BC surgical treatments combined with radiotherapy are particularly linked to shoulder and arm physical and functional complications.
Loh and Musa (2015) synthesised that shoulder range of movement exercises, progressive weight training and upper-limb exercising immediately after surgery for BC have shown to be effective in improving shoulder function and reducing chances of functional complications and do not increase risks of lymphedema.
After surgery for BC, patients are usually given a number of home exercises described on a piece of paper or pamphlet to ensure their best shoulder function after surgery. In many instances, during the short day-procedure or overnight stay for their breast surgery, patients are overwhelmed with information about their cancer treatments. After their operation, patients start other cancer treatments and hence, exercising may get lost or not be prioritised. We believe that there may be a better way to encourage patients to carry out these exercises. Therefore, this research project aims to design, develop and test an engaging online intervention for self-management exercising for improving shoulder function and mobility which will be tailored according to the major types of shoulder and arm functional problems that this population may have. This study will involve designing, development and testing of the online intervention during which: 1) Participants will comment on the contents and the appearance of the web-based intervention during focus groups; 2) Participants will be able to test the prototype intervention online at home and during think-aloud interviews, prior to its launch.REC name
South Central - Hampshire B Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
18/SC/0519
Date of REC Opinion
7 Sep 2018
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion