Strength and Balance Training for Preventing Falls in Prostate Cancer Patients Receiving Androgen Deprivation Therapy: Case Report

PURPOSE: Prostate cancer (PCa) survivors are at risk of falls due to the accelerated physiological changes following receiving androgen deprivation therapy (ADT). Thus, follow-up care of PCa survivors after treatment is vital to prevent high healthcare costs of fall-induced injuries and maintain their quality of life (QOL). Yet, we do not know what type of exercise can be beneficial to decrease falls risk factors in PCa patients. Here we report for the first time the possible advantage of strength and balance training (SBT) program on key components of falls predictors such as balance confidence, physical functioning performance and musculoskeletal health that might lead the next researcher to test this hypothesis on larger group of subjects. METHODS: For this purpose, center-based SBT exercise with resistance band conducted twice a week for 8 weeks and we compared outcomes of bone health, physical functioning performance, balance confidence, fatigue and quality of life of two cases with PCa with one control subject at the baseline and after intervention period. RESULTS: Following the exercise intervention, improvements were observed in bone mineral density (BMD), functional movement screen (FMS), backward walk and timed up and go (TUG) tests as well as outcomes of self-reported functional assessment of chronic illness therapy-fatigue (FACT-F) and functional assessment of cancer therapy-prostate (FACT-P); however, we could not declare the effects of SBT on lower body strength and power. CONCLUSIONS: The 8-weeks intervention had positive impact on some falls risk factors (i.e., bone health, functional and balance performance) as well as QOL for participants of SBT program. However due to small number of participants we could not apply further quantitative analysis methods to make any conclusion on the efficacy of the intervention.