Background: Exercise is widely touted as an effective intervention to optimize health and well-being after high-dose chemotherapy and hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. .
Objectives: This article reports attrition, compliance, adherence, and progression from the strength training arm of the single-blind randomized, controlled trial Strength Training to Enhance Early Recovery (STEER). .
Methods: 37 patients were randomized to the intervention and participated in a structured strength training program introduced during hospitalization and continued for six weeks after release. Research staff and patients maintained exercise logs to document compliance, adherence, and progression. .
Findings: No patients left the study because of burden. Patients were compliant with completion of exercise sessions, and their adherence was high; they also progressed on their exercise prescription. Because STEER balances intervention effectiveness with patient burden, the findings support the likelihood of successful translation into clinical practice.
Keywords: adherence; attrition; compliance; hematopoietic stem cell transplantation; progression.