[Purpose] This study aimed to investigate the effects of exercise on the autonomic nervous system of breast cancer survivors by measuring heart rate variability during an 8-week circulation exercise program. [Subjects and Methods] This intervention study included 22 volunteer female participants, younger than 65 years, who were selected from patients who had been diagnosed with carcinoma in situ and primary invasive breast cancer, stage I-III, in accordance with the American Joint Committee on Cancer (2009) and had undergone breast surgery. [Results] Despite the statistically significant differences in the low-frequency range (log), the high-frequency range (log), the standard deviation of the N-N interval, and the root mean square of differences values, which are heart rate variability indicators after exercise, between the two groups, no statistically significant difference was found in the low-frequency range/the high-frequency range values between the two groups. [Conclusion] The improvement in heart rate variability during the 8-week circulation exercise program confirms the increase in the activity of the autonomic nervous system of breast cancer patients after surgery.
Keywords: Autonomic nervous system; Breast cancer; Circulation exercise program.