Kinesiotherapy and quality of life after breast cancer surgery: A systematic review with meta-analysis

Abstract

Objective: To verify whether kinesiotherapy has an influence on the quality of life of women with breast cancer in the
postoperative period. Methodology: This is a meta-analysis conducted under the recommendations of Cochrane and
PRISMA. The search was carried out in the PubMed, Cochrane, and Regional Portal of the Virtual Health Library databases, searching for randomized and observational studies that compared the performance of kinesiotherapy protocols
versus the non-performance in patients undergoing breast cancer surgery. The evaluated outcomes were global health
status, physical function, emotional function, and social function. Statistical analyses were performed using the RevMan
5.1.7 program, and heterogeneity was evaluated with I². Results: A total of 190 patients were included in 4 studies, with a
mean age of 54.28 (±9.91) years. Of this sample, 139 (73.16%) underwent mastectomy. Three studies performed a before–
after evaluation, and one study evaluated intervention versus non-intervention in two different groups. Among the evaluated outcomes, global health status (Std. MD 0.78; 95%CI 0.13–1.43; p=0.02; I²=87%) and social function (Std. MD 0.53;
95%CI 0.14–0.92; p=0.007; I²=56%) showed significant results favoring kinesiotherapy. As for the outcomes physical function
(Std. MD 1.05; 95%CI 0.04–2.15; p=0.06; I²=94%) and emotional function (Std. MD 0.53; 95%CI 0.36–1.42; p=0.25; I²=91%), we
did not observe statistical significance. Conclusion: Kinesiotherapy can improve the quality of life of women undergoing
surgical treatment for breast cancer, especially in terms of overall health status and social functioning. Physical function
and emotional function were not benefited by the intervention, but the inclusion of new studies and the increase in the
sample size can reverse this result.