BACKGROUND Breast cancer survivors who participate in physical activity (PA) are reported to experience improved health-related quality of life (HRQOL). However, the quantitative research exploring the relationship between the team-based activity of dragon boat racing and the HRQOL of breast cancer survivors is limited. Given the rising number of breast cancer survivors, and their growing attra...

This study explored psychosocial experiences of breast cancer survivors involved in dragon boat programs. Twenty women (M(age) = 58.69, SD = 6.85) were interviewed for 45-60 min about their experiences as members of survivor dragon boat teams. Interviews were analyzed using constructivist grounded theory methods. The dragon boat program facilitated social support from women with common challeng...

This narrative review summarizes findings from quantitative and qualitative research literature that has been published over the past 15 years since an initial, community-based pilot study first challenged the long-held medical belief that vigorous, upper-body exercise would lead to lymphedema in women who were at risk due to treatments for breast cancer. Dragon boat racing originated in China ...

Dragon boat racing requires high physical activity levels during competition and training. The female athletic triad refers to a number of negative health consequences (e.g., amenorrhoea, low bone mineral density, and low energy availability) that may result from high physical activity in female athletes in parallel with inadequate dietary intake. This study aimed to estimate energy expenditure...

Purpose The purpose of this study was to: 1) determine whether and how breast cancer survivors’ participation in a season of dragon boat racing influenced health-related quality of life (HRQOL). And if so, to what degree changes are reflected within the physical, emotional, social/family and spiritual domains of HRQOL, 2) explore the breast cancer survivor experience of dragon boating and how a...

Maximal oxygen consumption (VO2max) and maximal workload attained (WLmax) were determined in 28 Malaysian dragon boat rowers who were exercised to exhaustion on an arm ergometer. Mean VO2max was 2.75 l min-1 at a mean WLmax of 195.5 W. Anaerobic endurance power of the arms, determined by cranking at 100 RPM at a workload of 400 W and the time taken to maintain the cadence until it fell to 75 RP...

Regular exercise improves physical function and quality of life and reduces fatigue in cancer survivors; these health benefits could be due to the anti-inflammatory effects of exercise. In this study we examined the effects of a whole-body exercise programme and dragon boat paddling on the production of reactive oxygen species (ROMs), antioxidant capacity (BAP) and the circulating levels of sev...