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CancerPERCSNCT05615285

Personalised Exercise Rehabilitation for Cancer Survivorship

A study testing PERCS Triage and Referral System in people with Cancer, run by University of Dublin, Trinity College at 1 site in Ireland.

Completed

Finished. The study has ended and is not enrolling. Results may be posted on the official record.

Official record
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Trial summary

There is strong evidence that exercise can help improve physical and mental wellbeing after treatment for cancer. However, at present, people with cancer in Ireland are not given the opportunity to have an individual assessment of their physical and psychological wellbeing as part of standard care and are not… Read more about this study

Who is it for?
Ages 18 years and older
Conditions the study is for
Cancer
What is being tested?
PERCS Triage and Referral System
How many people
70 participants
Where
1 siteIreland
Study dates
12 Dec 2022to 31 Oct 2023
Phase
Interventional
Are there results?
None posted in the registry

Key requirements

Who can take part, as listed by the sponsor. Only the study team can confirm whether you are eligible, so take this list to your doctor.

  • Ages 18 years and older
  • All sexes
  • No healthy volunteers
  • Adult, Older adult

Who may be able to join

  • Patients will be eligible to participate if they:
  • Were diagnosed with cancer at St James's Hospital since March 2020
  • Have completed adjuvant chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy
  • Are at least 6 weeks post-surgery
  • Do not show signs of recurrent or metastatic disease at the time of enrolment
  • Are over the age of 18 years

Who cannot join

  • Anyone who is unable to provide informed consent Any person with known or signs or symptoms suggestive of cardiovascular, metabolic or renal disease will require medical clearance from a physiotherapist or medical professional prior to participation, based on criteria outlined in the Safety Reference Guide to support the safe delivery of exercise services to people with cancer by Santa Mina et al. (2018). Preparticipation screening will be completed in accordance with the American College of Sports Medicine Preparticipation health screening recommendations.

Trial locations and contacts

1 site in 1 country.

Ireland1 site
  • Clinical Research Facility, St James's Hospital

    Dublin

Other trials in Ireland

About this study

There is strong evidence that exercise can help improve physical and mental wellbeing after treatment for cancer. However, at present, people with cancer in Ireland are not given the opportunity to have an individual assessment of their physical and psychological wellbeing as part of standard care and are not routinely prescribed exercise-based rehabilitation.

The researchers will run and evaluate a system to i. assess physical and psychological wellbeing of people who have completed cancer treatment, ii. apply a rehabilitation triage system, based on findings of the assessment, iii. refer participants to one of three rehabilitation pathways, as per outcome of the triage process.

Read more

Rehabilitation pathways are as follows:

  1. Participants who are currently active and have no cancer-specific impairments will receive advice from the physiotherapist on maintaining their current levels of activity.
  2. Participants who are not active and have no cancer-specific impairments will be referred to a suitable community-based exercise programme. This programme must contain both resistance and aerobic training and should have some level of supervision from a fitness professional.
  3. Participants who are not active and have ongoing cancer-specific impairments will be referred to an oncology specialist physiotherapist, funded through this work, at St James's Hospital for assessment and treatment.

All participants will be encouraged to visit www.cancerrehabilitation.ie for information through out the study. Participants will be reassessed 12 weeks after the initial assessment.

The implementation of this system will be evaluated using the RE-AIM framework.

Read the detailed description

Background During and following treatment for cancer, people can experience negative side-effects of treatment, including loss of fitness, weakness, fatigue and psychological issues such as depression and anxiety. There is strong evidence that exercise can help improve these symptoms. The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic means that many people who had cancer treatment since March 2020 may need additional support to achieve optimum physical and psychological wellbeing. At present, people with cancer in Ireland are not given the opportunity to have an individual assessment of their physical and psychological wellbeing as part of standard care and are not routinely prescribed exercise-based rehabilitation.

Aim To run and evaluate an exercise-based rehabilitation triage and assessment clinic for people who had cancer treatment since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Study Design:

Patients who were diagnosed with cancer in St James Hospital since March 2020 will be invited to participate in the study. Participants will attend an appointment with a physiotherapist, who will assess their physical and mental wellbeing. On the basis of the assessment findings, participants will be assigned to one of three categories, which will determine their ongoing rehabilitation plan. The three categories are as follows:

  1. Participants who are currently active and have no cancer-specific impairments will receive advice from the physiotherapist on maintaining their current levels of activity.
  2. Participants who are not active and have no cancer-specific impairments will be referred to a suitable community-based exercise programme. This programme must contain both resistance and aerobic training and should have some level of supervision from a fitness professional.
  3. Participants who are not active and have ongoing cancer-specific impairments will be referred to an oncology specialist physiotherapist, funded through this work, at St James's Hospital for assessment and treatment.

All participants will also be advised to visit a website designed by the PERCS research group through a co-design process with patient representatives (www.cancerrehabilitation.ie.) Participants will receive a follow-up phone call one week after the first assessment and will then be re-assessed 12 weeks after the first assessment. A further follow-up phone call will be conducted, if the PERCS research team feel it is needed.

The assessment and triage clinic will be assessed using a framework for evaluating intervention; this will look at how the intervention was implemented and how it will best operate in future practice.

Conditions
Cancer
Being tested
PERCS Triage and Referral System
Keywords
Cancer rehabilitation, Exercise, Triage
Medical subject headings
Neoplasms, Motor Activity

What participants receive

What participants receive. In a randomised study each person is assigned to one group by chance.

  • PERCS Triage and Referral SystemOther

    Participants will undergo an assessment of physical function and psychosocial wellbeing. Researchers will apply a triage algorithm, based on findings of assessment. Participants will be referred to one of three exercise-based rehabilitation pathways which will best meet their rehabilitation needs. Participants will be re-assessed after 12 weeks. System will be evaluated using RE-AIM framework.

What is being measured

The primary outcome is the main question the study is designed to answer.

  1. RE-AIM Framework

    Evaluation of system Reach, Effectiveness, Adoption, Implementation, Maintenance

    Measured: Data reported by 12 months

  2. Percentage of patients on Prehabilitation list which are eligible for the study

    Referral - Eligible referral rate from prehabilitation group

    Measured: Data reported by 12 months

  3. The percentage of referrals to the study from clinical team which are eligible for the study

    Referral - Eligible referral rate from clinical teams

    Measured: Data reported by 12 months

  4. Percentage of people enrolled in study who have received both recruitment letter and phone call

    Enrolment rate

    Measured: Data reported by 12 months

  5. Percentage of people attending scheduled assessments at i. T0 and ii. T1

    Assessment completion rate

    Measured: Data reported by 12 months

  6. Percentage of people who attended assessment who proceed to attend level 2 or level 3 referral service

    Attrition rate - referrals

    Measured: Data reported by 12 months

  7. Percentage of people who attended T0 assessment that attend T1 assessment

    Attrition rate - assessments

    Measured: Data reported by 12 months

  8. i. Time from assessment to referral being sent ii. Percentage of referral accepted at initial site iii. Time from referral sent to initial appointment

    Referral outcome - time frame and acceptance

    Measured: Data reported by 12 months

  9. i. Percentage of people triaged to each level (1, 2 or 3) ii. Percentage triaged to another level after initial triage and why

    Triage results

    Measured: Data reported by 12 months

  10. Number and nature of adverse events occurring in assessment process

    Adverse events

    Measured: Data reported by 12 months

  11. Information related to feasibility gathered from semi-structured interviews with participants

    Qualitative feasibility

    Measured: Data reported by 12 months

Secondary outcomes (19)
  1. International Physical Activity Questionnaire

    Physical activity levels assessment Health Behaviour and Stages of Change Questionnaire Self-Efficacy for Exercise Scale

    Measured: T0 assessment, T1 (+12 weeks from T0 assessment); data reported by 12 months

  2. Health Behaviour and Stages of Change Questionnaire

    Readiness to change assessment Health Behaviour and Stages of Change Questionnaire Self-Efficacy for Exercise Scale

    Measured: T0 assessment, T1 (+12 weeks from T0 assessment); data reported by 12 months

  3. Self-efficacy for exercise scale

    Physical activity self efficacy assessment Health Behaviour and Stages of Change Questionnaire Self-Efficacy for Exercise Scale

    Measured: T0 assessment, T1 (+12 weeks from T0 assessment); data reported by 12 months

  4. Patient specific funcational scale

    Self-reported function. Scale from 0 - 10, higher score indicates higher perceived ability to do task

    Measured: T0 assessment, T1 (+12 weeks from T0 assessment); data reported by 12 months

  5. Timed Up and Go

    Falls Risk

    Measured: T0 assessment, T1 (+12 weeks from T0 assessment); data reported by 12 months

  6. Hand grip strength

    Muscle strength

    Measured: T0 assessment, T1 (+12 weeks from T0 assessment); data reported by 12 months

  7. 30 second Sit-to-Stand

    Funcational lower body strength

    Measured: T0 assessment, T1 (+12 weeks from T0 assessment); data reported by 12 months

  8. Six minute walk test

    aerobic capacity \&endurance

    Measured: T0 assessment, T1 (+12 weeks from T0 assessment); data reported by 12 months

  9. Height

    Anthropometrics

    Measured: T0 assessment, T1 (+12 weeks from T0 assessment); data reported by 12 months

  10. Weight

    Anthropometrics

    Measured: T0 assessment, T1 (+12 weeks from T0 assessment); data reported by 12 months

  11. Waist Circumference

    Anthropometrics

    Measured: T0 assessment, T1 (+12 weeks from T0 assessment); data reported by 12 months

  12. Mid-arm Circumference

    Anthropometrics

    Measured: T0 assessment, T1 (+12 weeks from T0 assessment); data reported by 12 months

  13. Mini Nutritional Assessment

    Nutritional

    Measured: T0 assessment, T1 (+12 weeks from T0 assessment); data reported by 12 months

  14. EOCG-PS

    Performance status

    Measured: T0 assessment, T1 (+12 weeks from T0 assessment); data reported by 12 months

  15. European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire (EORTC- QLQ-C30)

    Quality of life

    Measured: T0 assessment, T1 (+12 weeks from T0 assessment); data reported by 12 months

  16. Multidimensional Fatigue Inventory (MFI-20)

    Fatigue

    Measured: T0 assessment, T1 (+12 weeks from T0 assessment); data reported by 12 months

  17. Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS)

    Anxiety \& depression; Scale from 0 - 21, higher score indicates higher levels of anxiety and/or depression.

    Measured: T0 assessment, T1 (+12 weeks from T0 assessment); data reported by 12 months

  18. Sociodemographic details

    Measured: T0 assessment; data reported by 12 months

  19. Medical history

    Measured: T0 assessment; data reported by 12 months

Timeline

From the start of the study to its completion; the mark is today. Estimated dates are the sponsor’s plan.

  1. First posted14 Nov 2022
  2. Study start12 Dec 2022
  3. Primary completion30 Sep 2023
  4. Study completion31 Oct 2023

Resources

More details

For doctors and researchers: how the study is designed, who runs it, and its registry IDs.

Study design
Study type
Interventional
Phase
Phase N/A
Primary purpose
Supportive care
Allocation
Non-randomised
Intervention model
Single group
Model description
A feasibility and implementation study of the PERCS triage and referral system. Participants are triaged into one of three groups, but the outcomes of the groups will not be compared from an intervention perspective. The system will be evaluated as a whole.
Masking
None (open label)
Enrolment
70 participants (actual)
IDs, dates and publications
ClinicalTrials.gov ID
NCT05615285
Sponsor's protocol ID
PERCS
Acronym
PERCS
Status last verified
Nov 2023
First submitted
21 Oct 2022
Last updated
4 Dec 2023
Results posted
No
Data monitoring committee
No
FDA-regulated drug
No
FDA-regulated device
No
Individual data sharing
No

Publications

  • Brennan L, Kennedy M, Grehan S, Connolly H, Sheill G, Donohoe CL, Guinan E. Patient experiences of participating in a cancer rehabilitation triage and referral system in the Irish healthcare system. J Cancer Surviv. 2025 Mar 27. doi: 10.1007/s11764-025-01785-6. Online ahead of print.

    PubMed 40146479
  • Brennan L, Sheill G, Collier S, Browne P, Donohoe C, Guinan E. Personalised exercise rehabilitation in cancer survivorship: Findings from a triage and referral feasibility study. J Cancer Surviv. 2026 Apr;20(2):752-765. doi: 10.1007/s11764-024-01684-2. Epub 2024 Nov 12.

    PubMed 39528780
  • Brennan L, Sheill G, Collier S, Browne P, Donohoe CL, O'Neill L, Hussey J, Guinan EM. Personalised exercise rehabilitation in cancer survivorship: the percs triage and referral system study protocol. BMC Cancer. 2024 Apr 23;24(1):517. doi: 10.1186/s12885-024-12266-x.

    PubMed 38654198

Questions about this trial

What is this clinical trial studying?

A study testing PERCS Triage and Referral System in people with Cancer, run by University of Dublin, Trinity College at 1 site in Ireland.

The full registered description is in the About this study section and the official record.

Who may be eligible to take part?

The sponsor lists 6 inclusion and 1 exclusion criteria. Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening, so read the full criteria and contact a listed site.

Is this clinical trial currently recruiting?

The record says: finished, as of the sponsor's last update on 4 Dec 2023. Status can change between updates, so confirm with the study contact before making plans.

Where is the study taking place?

The record lists 1 site in Ireland. Whether a site is taking part right now should be confirmed with that site. See every site.

What are the possible benefits and risks?

They depend on the study and the treatment, and no study can promise a benefit. The study team explains the known risks during informed consent, before anyone joins; the record itself does not list them.

Are results available for this study?

The study is completed, but results are not available in the source record. That does not mean the treatment did or did not work.

How can a doctor refer a patient or contact the research team?

The record lists no contact. The official record names the sponsor, who can be asked directly. AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals.

What does the primary outcome measure?

RE-AIM Framework (time frame: Data reported by 12 months). The study lists 11 primary outcomes in all. It is what the study was designed to measure, not a finding.

Where can I read the original study information?

On the ClinicalTrials.gov record for NCT05615285, which also lists 3 linked publications.

Does a listing mean the treatment is approved or proven to work?

No. A listing means the study is registered. It does not show that the treatment is safe, works, or is approved by a regulator.

How often is this information updated?

AzTrials copies changed records from ClinicalTrials.gov every night and reloads the whole registry every week. The sponsor last updated this record on 4 Dec 2023.

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