Oral Presentation Clinical Oncology Society of Australia Annual Scientific Meeting 2024

What information and support do people diagnosed with sarcoma require about exercise and nutrition? (#86)

Georgia Halkett 1 , Connor Farnell 1 , Jenny Davies 1 , Mandy Basson 2 , Tania Rice-Brading Rice-Brading 3 , Mariana Sousa 4 , Janene Sproul 5 , Helen DeJong 6 7 , Chloe Maxwell-Smith 8 , William Lorimer 1 , Haryana M Dhillon 9 , Joanna Fardell 10 11 , Joanne Shaw 9 , Moira O'Connor 8
  1. Curtin School of Nursing/ Curtin Health Innovation Research Institute, Curtin University, Perth, WA, Australia
  2. Sock it to Sarcoma!, Perth, WA, Australia
  3. Cooper Rice-Brading Foundation, Sydney, NSW, Australia
  4. Improving Palliative, Aged and Chronic Care through Clinical Research and Translation (IMPACCT), Faculty of Health, University of Technology Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia
  5. School of Education, Murdoch University, Perth, WA, Australia
  6. Occupational Therapy, South Metropolitan Health Service, Fiona Stanley Fremantle Hospital Group, Perth, WA, Australia
  7. Curtin School of Allied Health, Curtin University, Perth, WA, Australia
  8. Curtin School of Population Health/Curtin Health Innovation Research Institute/Curtin enAble Institute, Curtin University, Perth, WA, Australia
  9. Psycho-Oncology Cooperative Research Group, School of Psychology, Faculty of Science, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia
  10. School of Clinical Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and Health, UNSW , Sydney, NSW, Australia
  11. Western Sydney Youth Cancer Service, Crown Princess Mary Cancer Centre, , Westmead Hospital, Sydney, NSW, Australia

Background: Exercise and nutrition can promote recovery, reduce treatment side effects, and improve quality of life for people diagnosed with cancer. Many people diagnosed with sarcoma have surgery on their extremities, require limb salvage, and/or receive extensive treatment over a long period of time, impacting their ability to exercise and reducing well-being. However, there is a lack of research exploring what exercise and nutrition support is provided to people diagnosed with sarcoma.

Aim: We aimed to gain an understanding of the exercise and nutrition support provided to people with sarcoma from the perspectives of people with sarcoma, their carers, and health professionals. 

Method: Using an inductive qualitative methodology, semi-structured interviews were conducted with three participant groups (people diagnosed with sarcoma, carers, health professionals) across Australia. Interviews were conducted online, audio-recorded, transcribed and thematic analysis was used to analyse the data. Thematic saturation was used to determine when to cease data collection and was achieved in each participant group independently.

Results: We interviewed 60 participants (people diagnosed with sarcoma n=20, carers n=11, and health professionals n=23). Six themes were identified. Four themes related to exercise: overlooked need; getting back to normal; exercise promotes well-being; and uncertainty about which exercises are safe and best for recovery.  Two themes were specific to the role of nutrition in promoting physical functioning and recovery: managing nutrition during treatment and loss of appetite. People with sarcoma and carers emphasised the need for more information and support around exercise and nutrition.

Conclusion: Themes emphasised the gap in high-quality, consistent information about exercise and nutrition play in the sarcoma context. Uncertainty about exercise and nutrition were barriers to engaging with this support until late into treatment or recovery. Exercise and nutrition resources and models of care are needed to support people with sarcoma throughout treatment and into recovery.