Abstract
Simple SummaryEngaging in sports activities is strongly encouraged for cancer survivors. We aim to investigate the association between the level of sports activities participation post-diagnosis and quality of life (QoL) among Chinese women with early-stage breast cancer during the first five years of survival. Notably, we confirm in this work that regular participation in sports activities following cancer diagnosis may have a positive effect on patients’ QoL.Evidence about the association between the level of sports activities participation post-diagnosis and quality of life (QoL) among Chinese women with early-stage breast cancer is limited. A validated modified Chinese Baecke questionnaire was used to prospectively measure sports activities among a breast cancer cohort at four time-points: baseline and 18, 36, and 60 months after diagnosis (sports activities during the previous 12 months before each interview); QoL was measured at the same time. In total, 1289, 1125, and 1116 patients were included in the analyses at 18-, 36- and 60-month follow-up, respectively. The percentages of patients who belonged to no (0 metabolic equivalent of task (MET)-hours per week), low-level (<10 MET-hours/week), and high-level (≥10 MET-hours/week) sports activities group were 20.7%, 45.5%, and 33.8% at 18-month follow-up, respectively; the corresponding figures at 36 and 60 months differed slightly. Using data from the three follow-ups, generalized estimating equation (GEE) analyses showed that higher levels of sports activities participation were associated with better QoL in several items as well as fewer symptoms. The present findings in Chinese women with breast cancer provide important evidence on the beneficial effect of regular participation in sports activities following cancer diagnosis on patients’ QoL.
Highlights
Survival analysis based on cancer registry data indicates that the incidence of breast cancer has increased steadily; on the other hand, in recent decades in Hong Kong, the mortality rate has only increased slightly over the same period [1]
Patients who had disease recurrence, metastasis, other primary cancers, or incomplete data on sports activities or quality of life (QoL) were excluded; this resulted in 1289, 1125, and 1116 patients included in the analyses at 18, 36- and 60-month follow-up, respectively
Based on a cohort study, the present report found that regular participation in sports activities after breast cancer diagnosis was significantly associated with better general health status/QoL and physical functioning during the first five years of survival
Summary
Survival analysis based on cancer registry data indicates that the incidence of breast cancer has increased steadily; on the other hand, in recent decades in Hong Kong, the mortality rate has only increased slightly over the same period [1]. These trends have resulted in a rising number of women who will live longer as breast cancer survivors. As the survival rate quantitatively increases, the improvement of quality of life (QoL) becomes a critical long-term management issue for breast cancer survivors [3,4]. Previous studies have reported that both newly diagnosed breast cancer patients and long-term breast cancer survivors have worse QoL than healthy female controls [5,6]. As such, identifying effective strategies, especially by the adoption of healthy lifestyles, to improve QoL has been explored among breast cancer survivors
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