Abstract
Physical activity (PA) is a known behavior to reduce cancer risk and improve cancer survivorship, yet adherence to PA guidelines is poor among the general population and cancer survivors. The purpose of this study was to determine the extent to which patients referred for exercise consultation within a clinical cancer prevention setting were meeting aerobic and resistance physical activity (PA) guidelines and to identify factors associated with guideline adherence. Between 2013 and 2015, cancer prevention patients and cancer survivors were interviewed by an exercise physiologist within an Integrative Health Program at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Prevention Center. PA adherence was defined as at least 150-minutes of moderate-intensity or 75-minutes of vigorous-intensity PA per week, along with resistance training at least 2 days per week. Logistic regression was used to determine factors associated with meeting or not meeting PA guidelines for aerobic exercise, resistance exercise, and aerobic and resistance exercise combined. Among 1,024 cancer prevention patients and survivors, 9% of patients adhered to guideline-based PA. Adherence to aerobic and resistance guidelines were 20% and 12%, respectively. Overweight or obesity was associated with not meeting guideline-based PA in both cancer prevention patients and cancer survivors. Among breast cancer survivors, combination treatment with surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy (‘multimodal therapy’) was robustly associated with not meeting aerobic guidelines (OR 2.20, 95% CI: 1.17 to 4.16). BMI and breast cancer treatment history are key determinants of PA behavior among cancer prevention patients and survivors. Poor adherence to PA guidelines is a key issue for cancer prevention patients and survivors, particularly obese patients and women who receive multimodal therapy for breast cancer. Identifying and connecting patients at highest risk of poor PA adherence with exercise programs is needed to improve PA, a key modifiable cancer risk factor.
Highlights
Physical activity is a known behavior to reduce cancer risk [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8]
Cancer prevention patients and survivors referred to an exercise physiologist Demographic and clinical factors
We found that only 9% of cancer prevention patients and survivors referred to an exercise physiologist for consultation adhered to both aerobic and resistance physical activity guidelines
Summary
Physical activity is a known behavior to reduce cancer risk [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8]. among cancer survivors, engaging in physical activity is associated with improvements in survival [9,10,11,12], and with improvements in quality of life [13, 14], body image, emotional wellbeing, sleep, sexuality [14], muscular strength and cardiorespiratory fitness [13], and reductions in fatigue [13, 14], depression [13], and pain [14]. Significant reductions in cancer risk and improved survival has been demonstrated among those who adhere to the physical activity guidelines [17,18,19]. In a retrospective cohort based on the National Institute of Health AARP Diet and Health Study, conducted among 215,122 men and women, participation in resistance training was significantly associated with a lower risk of colon cancer (p-trend = 0.003) and trend towards lower risk of kidney cancer (p-trend = 0.06) [20]. A retrospective study based on the National Health Interview Survey, conducted among nearly 14,000 cancer survivors at least three-years post-treatment, observed that adherence to both aerobic and resistance physical activity guidelines was associated with a 48%, 46%, and 40% reduction in cancer-specific, cardiovascular disease-specific, and all-cause mortality, respectively [19]. This work supports the importance of promoting physical activity in both cancer prevention and survivorship
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
