The rank value of sports and movement therapy in patients with breast or pelvic cancer

: In the summer of 1980 fifty women with breast or uterine cancer participating in a health resort measure for cancer aftercare took part in an extended sports and movement therapy programme, which included hiking, swimming, play and dance activities, as well as specific gymnastic exercises to improve shoulder joint function. Only 38 percent of the women had previously received physical therapy during primary clinical treatment. On the basis of a standardized questionnaire submitted at the beginning and at the end of the aftercare measure, information was obtained from 42 women on their holiday and leisure behaviour, on the expected aftercare measure outcome, as well as their attitudes towards sports. In a follow-up interview some six months later 71 percent reported continued sports activities. Exercise programmes must be simple, their effectiveness explained, and they must be felt to be beneficial. As had been the case with the coronary sports groups, the establishment of local "cancer sports groups" needs to be actively pursued.