Date Presented 03/22/24
This presentation will discuss our study results showing that goal attainment scaling (GAS) is a feasible and sensitive measure of functional change in breast cancer survivors with chemotherapy-induced neuropathy after an adapted tango intervention.
Primary Author and Speaker: Amy Watson-Grace
Additional Authors and Speakers: Jewel Elias Crasta
Contributing Authors: Courtney Bland, Jacqueline Wilder, Kristen Lantis, Madeleine Hackney, Maryam Lustberg, Lise Worthen-Chaudhari
PURPOSE: Approximately 67% of breast cancer survivors (BCS) experience pain, numbness, and other debilitating symptoms due to chemotherapy-induced neuropathy (CIN; Storey et al., 2020). Physical activity and music-based interventions may improve CIN symptoms (Lantis et al., 2023). However, traditional measures of treatment effectiveness may not examine areas that are most personally relevant for BCS. This study examined the feasibility and clinical utility of goal attainment scaling (GAS) for measuring progress toward individualized goals following an Adapted Tango intervention.
DESIGN: Convenience sampling was used to recruit 8 BCS participants from a larger randomized control trial (Lantis et al., 2023) examining the effectiveness of Adapted Tango. Inclusion criteria were: chemotherapy treatment completed ≥3 months ago, CIN reported at last medical visit, no vestibular/neurologic condition outside CIN, and standing exercise not contraindicated.
METHOD: Eight participants (7 females; mean age=64 years) with CIN completed Adapted Tango twice per week x 8 weeks. Participants were interviewed at baseline to collaboratively develop 1-4 personally meaningful goals. Each participant goal was scaled to reflect GAS levels from -2 to +2. Current level of functioning for each goal was determined pre- and post-Tango. Unweighted total t-scores were calculated for each time point and pre- to post-change was analyzed using a paired-samples t-test.
RESULTS: GAS level of function significantly improved post-Tango, t(7)=6.82, p<.001, d=2.41. Across all participants, GAS t-score differences pre- to post- ranged from 9.1 to 43.5 (mean difference=27.66, SD=11.48).
CONCLUSION: Adapted Tango resulted in improvements in everyday functioning across participants.
IMPACT: GAS shows preliminary feasibility and clinical utility in detecting personally meaningful change toward individualized goals for BCS with CIN following Adapted Tango.
References
Bland, C., Worthen-Chaudhari, L., Hackney, M., Crasta, J. E., & Lustberg, M. (2023). Goal Attainment Scaling with a Dance-Based Intervention for Breast Cancer Survivors With CIPN: Pilot Study. Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, 104(3), e31–e32. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apmr.2022.12.089
Bland, C., Worthen-Chaudhari, L., Hackney, M., Lustberg, M., & Crasta, J. E. (2023). Effect of Partnered Dance Intervention on Upper Extremity Outcomes for Breast Cancer Survivors With CIPN. Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, 104(3), e24. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apmr.2022.12.067
Lantis, K., Schnell, P., Bland, C. R., Wilder, J., Hock, K., Vargo, C., Glover, N. A., Hackney, M. E., Lustberg, M. B., & Worthen-Chaudhari, L. (2023). Biomechanical effect of neurologic dance training (NDT) for breast cancer survivors with chemotherapy-induced neuropathy: Study protocol for a randomized controlled trial and preliminary baseline data. Trials, 24(1), 564. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13063-023-07554-z
Storey, S., Cohee, A., Von Ah, D., Vachon, E., Zanville, N. R., Monahan, P. O., Stump, T. E., & Champion, V. L. (2020). Presence and Distress of Chemotherapy-Induced Peripheral Neuropathy Symptoms in Upper Extremities of Younger and Older Breast Cancer Survivors. Journal of Patient-Centered Research and Reviews, 7(4), 295–303. https://doi.org/10.17294/2330-0698.1757
