Research
Adherence
Oncology clinicians should adopt the 'Assess, Advise, Refer' (EIM) framework to standardize exercise referrals, as current referral rates are low despite high patient interest.
Clinicians: Make exercise a vital sign. Ask about activity, advise on its importance, and refer to a program using the EIM tools. This is a low-time, high-impact step.
GoodSupportsHIGH confidence
The simple proposal is for clinicians to assess, advise, and refer patients to either home-based or community-based exercise or for further evaluation and intervention in outpatient rehabilitation.
Why this rating
Based on observational data showing low referral rates and high patient interest, and successful adoption in other health systems.
Source
Exercise is medicine in oncology: Engaging clinicians to help patients move through cancer
Kathryn H. Schmitz et al. · CA A Cancer Journal for Clinicians · 2019
DOI 10.3322/caac.21579
narrative_reviewCited 796×
Read the paper DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10
Related findings · Adherence
- Regular physical activity (at least 150 minutes/week of moderate-intensity) reduces all-cause and cardiovascular mortality by 20-30% and lowers the risk of type 2 diabetes by 25-35%.Strong
- Increasing physical activity from a sedentary lifestyle to an active one in middle adulthood significantly reduces the risk of coronary events compared to remaining sedentary.Strong
- Resistance exercise is the only intervention capable of consistently restoring muscle function and strength in sarcopenia, partially overcoming age-related anabolic resistance.Strong
This is one finding among thousands. Every one is graded and traced to its source, so you can see what the evidence actually supports. Browse the research →