Exercise capacity of hematopoietic stem cell transplant patient and relation to knee extension muscle strength

This study examined the exercise capacity around the time of transplantation of hematopoietic stem cell transplant patients treated a in bioclean room and its relation to knee extension muscle strength. The subjects had received hematopoietic stem cell transplants, and this study is limited to 40 subjects who were able to perform the exercise tolerance test around the time of the transplantation. They mainly carried out stretching and muscle strengthening during the bioclean room stay. Though the accomplishment rate of the exercise tolerance test before the transplantation was 100%, it was lowered after the transplantation to 57.5%. From the results of the exercise tolerance test, the subjects were classified into accomplishment and non-accomplishment groups. Discriminant analysis was performed with bioclean room stay period, knee extension muscle strength after treatment, its rate of change and strength relative to body weight, and rate of change, age, sex, weight change rate and pretreatment period as independent variables. The knee extension muscle strength was the largest discriminant factor for exercise tolerance, indicating that decrease of exercise capacity was inhibited by maintaining knee extension muscle strength in the bioclean room with difficult aerobics.