Association of Obesity With Transtheoretical Stage of Change and Self-Efficacy in Women With Endometrial Cancer [5J

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: Exercise and lifestyle interventions may improve health metrics and quality of life in survivors of endometrial cancer. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the association between patient characteristics and self-efficacy as well as transtheoretical stage of change for diet or exercise in an ethnic/racially diverse population of women with endometrial cancer. METHODS: After IRB approval, 100 survivors of endometrial cancer completed a questionnaire including demographics, disease factors and co-morbidities. Transtheoretical Stage of Change and Self-Efficacy for Diet and Exercise were assessed using the Stages of Change Measure and Five Item Self Efficacy Measure. Associations were evaluated using Krusal Wallis and ANOVA testing, performed with Stata version 13.0. RESULTS: Mean age of 99 responders was 69 years and BMI was 34.1 kg/m2. There was a difference in BMI between stages of transtheoretical stage of change for exercise, maintenance vs contemplation (29.2 vs 38.0, p less than 0.01) and between stage of change for diet (38.6 vs 31.4, p=0.04) . Obesity (BMI greater than 30) was associated with the action stage of change when evaluated as a categorical variable (p less than 0.01). Self-efficacy for exercise as compared to transtheoretical stage of change was of borderline significance (p=0.08), however it was not significant for diet. CONCLUSION: In survivors of endometrial cancer, BMI was the only clinical/pathological factor associated with transtheoretical stage of change for exercise. Patient centered diet and exercise lifestyle intervention programs may consider patient BMI, and education as well as transtheoretical stage of change and self-efficacy to improve recruitment and retention.