Evidence supporting the use of rehabilitation methods to treat patients with prostate cancer was sought on the basis of a scientometric analysis.
OBJECTIVE
To analyze the studies containing substantiated data on physical rehabilitation methods used in patients with prostate cancer and to make recommendations for the use of therapeutic physical factors based on the evidence obtained during the work.
METHODS
The PICO(T) technology was used to analyze the studies investigating physical rehabilitation methods in patients with prostate cancer, which were published from 2000 to 2018 and are available in electronic databases (PEDro, PubMed, E-library, Cochrane Library). The authors also used the Medical Subject Heading (MeSH) bibliographic descriptors: «prostate cancer», «rehabilitation», and «physical therapy». The studies included in the final analysis were assessed using the PEDro scale including 10 parameters of the level of evidence: randomization, endpoint assessment, etc.
RESULTS
The final analysis included 130 studies. The verified distribution of the studies by the quality of evidence showed that the quality level of 94.66% of works corresponded to 4-10 PEDro scores. The bulk (64.12%) of the studies evaluated the effectiveness of physical exercises. The studies evaluating the efficiency of cognitive and behavioral therapy, psychological support, and traditional health-improving practices (yoga, relaxation, Chi kung, etc.) amounted to 9.16%. An integrated approach to using physical activity and psychological support were 1.53%; the efficiency of acupuncture, physiotherapy (biofeedback, electrical stimulation, and magnetotherapy), and dietary treatment was confirmed in 3.05%, 2.29%, and 1.53% of the studies, respectively. The studies including a combination treatment with physical exercises and diet accounted for 14.5%. Recommendations to combine physical exercises, diet, cognitive and behavioral therapy, psychological support, and traditional health-improving practices (yoga, relaxation, Chi kung, etc.) were also available in 3.82% of the studies.
CONCLUSION
The clinical practice guidelines elaborated on the basis of the findings will form the basis for a new evidence-based stage in the development of rehabilitation in patients with prostate cancer in Russia.
