Feasibility of a home-based exercise intervention with remote guidance for patients with stable grade II and III gliomas: a pilot randomized controlled trial.

This innovative and intensive home-based exercise intervention was feasible in a small subset of patients with stable gliomas who were interested in exercising. The observed effects suggest that the programme may improve cardiorespiratory fitness. These results support the need for large-scale trials of exercise interventions in brain tumour patients.

In all, 34 of 136 eligible patients (25%) were randomized to exercise training ( N = 23) or the control group ( N = 11), of whom 19 and 9, respectively, underwent follow-up. Mean adherence to prescribed sessions was 79%. Patients' experiences were positive. There were no adverse events. Compared to the control group, the exercise group showed larger improvements in absolute VO₂ peak (+158.9 mL/min; 95% CI: -44.8 to 362.5) and BMI (-0.3 kg/m²; 95% CI: -0.9 to 0.2). The median increase in physical activity was 1489 metabolic equivalent of task (MET) minutes higher in the exercise group. The most reported reasons for non-participation were lack of motivation or time.

The six-month intervention included three home-based exercise sessions per week at 60%-85% of maximum heart rate. Participants wore heart rate monitors connected to an online platform to record activities that were monitored weekly by the physiotherapist.

In this pilot study, we investigated the feasibility of a home-based, remotely guided exercise intervention for patients with gliomas.

Patients with stable grade II and III gliomas.

Accrual, attrition, adherence, safety, satisfaction, patient-reported physical activity, VO₂ peak (by maximal cardiopulmonary exercise testing) and body mass index (BMI) at baseline and at six-month follow-up.

Pilot randomized controlled trial (RCT) with randomization (2:1) to exercise or control group.