Abstract
Objective: To explore the cardio-respiratory response to exercise and examine the relationships among specific measures of cardio-respiratory function, energy expenditure (EE), fatigue and adiposity in children survivors of acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL).
Methods: Seventy survivors of ALL (13.31 +/- 2.60 years) and 34 controls from the siblings (12.71 +/- 2.36 years) participated and were assessed for submaximal and maximal exercise capacity, body composition, EE and fatigue.
Results: ALL survivors had significantly lower submaximal (VO2; p = 0.002) and maximal (VO2peak; p < 0.001) cardio-respiratory capacity than their controls. At the submaximal exercise test, EE was significantly lower in ALL survivors (p < 0.001), but the heart rate (HR) was significantly higher (p = 0.005). The VO2 and HR were significantly correlated [r (95%CI) = 0.689 (0.542 to 0.795), p r (95%CI) = -0.368 (-0.554 to -0.145), p = 0.002]. Fatigue significantly correlated with the VO2peak [r (95%CI) = 0.581 (0.401 to 0.718), p r (95%CI) = -0.303 (-0.502 to 0.073), p = 0.012].
Conclusion: Children survivors of ALL experience low cardio-respiratory fitness within 5-year off-chemotherapy. Associations exist between measures of cardio-respiratory fitness, EE, fatigue and adiposity. However, it has not yet been proven whether these are cause or effect.