Physical fitness prior to colorectal surgery
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Improving physical fitness prior to colorectal surgery: A pilot study
IRAS ID
196671
Contact name
J M Trotter
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
York Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 6 months, 1 days
Research summary
It is generally accepted that physically fit patients cope much better with the stress of surgery and recover faster. Consequently several research studies have tried to increase people’s level of fitness before they have surgery. These previous research studies have usually required patients to carry out intense, structured exercise programmes that involve going to a gym. However such programmes are not ’user friendly’ especially if people are not used to taking a lot of exercise. In this pilot study we want to test the feasibility of a home based programme that tries to increase patients’ level of fitness by gradually increasing the number of steps they walk every day.\n\nParticipants will be randomised into one of two groups. One group of participants will be asked to increase their level of activity by gradually walking further (the exercise group) and the other group will carry on with their usual level of activity (the usual activity group) . \n\nAssessments\nPeople in both groups will have an assessment on 3 occasions: when they join the study, just before surgery and 3 months after surgery. \n\nThis assessment involves:\n \nWalking for 6 minutes up and down a corridor to see how far they can walk.\nAsking them for some information about their medical history \nCompleting three questionnaires about how they are feeling and their quality of life. \n\nPeople who are randomised to the exercise group will be advised about how many steps to take based on how they did in the initial walking assessment. The number of days or weeks they will be asked to take a daily walk will depend on how much time there is between them joining the study and the date of their surgery. We think this will be about 2 weeks.
REC name
Yorkshire & The Humber - Leeds West Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
16/YH/0049
Date of REC Opinion
26 Apr 2016
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion