Adapted physical activity for hematology inpatients: focus on lean mass gain

Adapted physical activity (APA) has become an essential asset in the care of patients with cancer. Although its positive impact has mainly been studied regarding quality of life, few studies have focused on changes in lean mass (LM) and its determinants. This study reports the results of an APA program for inpatients in the hematology department of Nice University Hospital (France). Body composition analyses and physical tests were performed at admission and discharge. A total of 123 patients were analyzed with relative LM gain as the primary outcome. Over a median hospitalization duration of 33 days, the average observed LM variation was +0.32 kg (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.15-0.50), representing an average relative gain of +0.64% (95% CI, 0.28-1.01), with significant improvement in all physical tests. In multivariate analyses, a younger age and a shorter neutropenia duration were best predictive of LM gain. We show here that it is possible to maintain LM during hospitalization for hematology patients undergoing chemotherapy in a real-life setting.