European journal of oncology nursing : the official journal of European Oncology Nursing Society
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Many colorectal cancer (CRC) patients report having Oxaliplatin-induced peripheral neuropathy (OXAIPN), compromising their overall quality of life (QoL). Yet, the existing studies on examining the effects of elastic-band resistance exercise yielded inconsistent results and there was a scare study with CRC population employing a longitudinal research design. The purpose of this non-randomized preliminary study was to examine the effects of an educational program providing skills and knowledge about OXAIPN along with home-based lower extremity elastic-band exercise training in a sample (n = 42) of Taiwanese patients with CRC. ⋯ Study findings indicated that an educational program combined with knowledge about OXAIPN symptom management and skills with lower extremity resistance training had potential benefits over time on muscle strength and endurance and autonomic dimension of CIPN-related QoL. These preliminarily results may assist healthcare providers to incorporate self-management strategies such as lower extremity exercise for patients with OXAIPN to partially mitigate its negative effects.