SYSTEMATIC REVIEW article
Front. Oncol.
Sec. Breast Cancer
Comparative Efficacy of Various Physical Therapies on Pain, Fatigue, Quality of Life and Functional Impairment in Breast Cancer Survivors: A Network Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials
Provisionally accepted
- 1The First People's Hospital of Neijiang City, Sichuan, China, Neijiang, China
- 2The Second People's Hospital of Neijiang, Neijiang, China
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Objective:This study aims to conduct a comparative analysis of the effects of different physical therapies on the pain, fatigue, functional impairment, quality of life, and grip strength of breast cancer survivors. Design:A systematic review and network meta-analysis were conducted. Methods: The process of screening, data extraction, coding and bias risk assessment is conducted in an independent and duplicated manner. The primary outcome measures are subjected to evaluation through the utilisation of Bayesian network meta-analysis. The online Meta-analysis Confidence (CINeMA) tool is employed to assess the quality of evidence. The data source:PubMed,Cochrane Library,Web of Science and Embase. Eligibility criteria for selecting studies .The efficacy of different physical therapies in reducing pain, fatigue and functional impairment in breast cancer survivors: A network meta-analysis based on randomized clinical trials Efficacy of Different Physical Therapy Modalities in Breast Cancer Survivors: a network Meta-Analysis Based on Randomized Clinical Trials . The objective of this study is to provide a comparative analysis of the impact that various physiotherapy methods have on the quality of life and psychological well-being of individuals who have survived breast cancer. involve physical therapy for breast cancer survivors. Results:A total of 111 RCTs involving 6888 participants and 16 types of physical therapy interventions were included. A network meta-analysis showed that all physical therapy measures had some effect on breast cancer survivors compared with placebo. Virtual reality technology may be more effective in relieving pain, electrotherapy may be more effective in restoring functional disorders, kinesiology taping may be more effective in terms of fatigue, quality of life (physical aspect), and grip strength, and aerobic exercise may be more effective in relieving Quality of life (Mental Component) . The final curvature under the cumulative sequence curve indicates that virtual reality technology, intramuscular adhesives, and mixed exercises are relatively good auxiliary treatment methods. The degree of confidence varies from high to very low according to CINeMA.
Keywords: Physical Therapy, Manual lymphatic therapy, aerobic exercise, breast cancer, Network meta-analysis
Received: 05 Sep 2025; Accepted: 17 Nov 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Luo, Huang, Chen, Peng, Li, Chen, Zhang and Huang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Qi Huang, 453706616@qq.com
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