Long-term effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of an 18-week supervised exercise program in patients treated with autologous stem cell transplantation: results from the EXIST study.

Abstract

One hundred nine patients were randomly assigned to the exercise intervention (n = 54) or the usual care control group (n = 55). Data on cardiorespiratory fitness (VO2peak), handgrip strength, general fatigue, and health-related quality of life (quality-adjusted life years [QALYs]) were collected at baseline (T0), after completion of the exercise intervention or at a similar time point in the control group (T1) and 12 months later (T2). Cost questionnaires were used to assess societal costs. Long-term effectiveness (at T2) was evaluated using linear mixed model analyses. For the economic evaluation, missing data were imputed using multiple imputation, and data were analyzed using linear mixed models.