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Effect of Cognitively Challenging Physical Activity on Executive Functions in Pediatric Cancer Patients
Sponsor: University of Bern
Summary
When it comes to exercise and sport for children and adolescents with cancer, there is often still the opinion that physical activity has a negative effect on the weakened body suffering from cancer. Many studies show that the opposite is the case: physical activity for children and adolescents with cancer do not jeopardise the success of treatment, but rather promote it. It has been shown that physical activity has a positive effect on motor skills, physical fitness, sleep quality, fatigue symptoms, body image and general quality of life in children and adolescents with cancer. In addition, physical activity leads to an improved fat-to-muscle ratio, metabolic status, bone strength and reduces cardiovascular disease. Furthermore, various studies show that oncological patients with sarcopenia (loss of muscle mass) and frailty have a poorer response to their cancer therapy. This broad spectrum of effects of physical activity leads to improved and faster rehabilitation, is directly linked to the success of treatment and has led to exercise being an integral part of treatment in many paediatric oncology centres worldwide. Furthermore, more exercise that includes playful cognitive tasks is expected to lead to improved attention, memory and academic achievement. Besides, it is important to try to get children to exercise at home outside of the inpatient setting. Hybrid (on-site and digital meetings) programmes also work for children and adolescents. Additionally, the research project offers sports counselling after the end of therapy to reintegrate the patients into everyday sporting life, be it in a club or at school. The central question of the research project is: Does cognitive challenging physical activity developed for children and adolescents undergoing acute cancer therapy improve cognitive and motor performance compared to a control group receiving standard care?
Official title: An Investigator Initiated, Non-randomized Controlled Trial on the Effect of Cognitively Challenging Physical Activity on Executive Functions in Paediatric Cancer Patients
Key Details
Gender
All
Age Range
6 Years - 17 Years
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Enrollment
70
Start Date
2025-05-10
Completion Date
2028-12-01
Last Updated
2025-08-12
Healthy Volunteers
No
Conditions
Interventions
Cognitively challenging physical activity for paediatric cancer patients
The intervention is a structured cognitively challenging physical activity (PA) program specifically designed for pediatric cancer patients undergoing acute therapy. It stands out from other interventions by combining motor and cognitive tasks simultaneously. Therefore, the target executive functions are inhibition, shifting, and updating. Additionally, the whole body is addressed by enhancing PA. The PA program spans 12 weeks, with each participant engaging in guided, supervised 45-minute sessions three times weekly. Each session includes a warm-up, the cognitive challenging PA task and a subsequent multimodal sports programme with a cool-down. Exercises are adaptive and tailored to each participant's physical and health condition by offering three levels of intensity in both cognitive and physical difficulty. In addition, exercise counselling in maintenance therapy or aftercare supports young patients to reintegrate into the life after the disease.
Physical activity recommendations
The children and adolescents receive general physical activity recommendations at the baseline measurement (t0). At the end of the intervention (after 12 weeks), i.e. after the final measurement (t3), they receive individualised and tailored exercise recommendations based on the test results from t0-t3.
Locations (1)
Inselspital, Universitätsspital Bern
Bern, Switzerland