The effects of neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy and an in-hospital exercise training programme on physical fitness and quality of life in locally advanced rectal cancer patients: a randomised controlled trial (The EMPOWER Trial)

Table 2 Physical fitness at week 0 and week 9 between exercise and usual care control groups

Physical fitness	Week 0, n	Week 9, n	Difference in endpoint week 9 (95% CI), P value
Primary outcome: VO₂ at AT (ml kg⁻¹ min ⁻¹)
Exercise	11.6 (3.4), 15	15.0 (4.2), 13	2.9 (0.8, 5.1), 0.011
Usual care control	10.8 (2.5), 13	11.5 (2.5), 12

Data are presented as mean (SD)
Abbreviations: VO₂ at AT oxygen uptake at anaerobic threshold, n sample of patients assessed
*P < 0.05 was taken as statistically significant. P value adjusted for baseline following linear regression with the difference between week 9 and week 0

ISSN: 2047-0525