Breast cancer survivors' exercise preferences change during an exercise intervention are associated with post-intervention physical activity

Erica Schleicher; Edward McAuley; Kerry S Courneya; Philip Anton; Diane K Ehlers; Siobhan M Phillips; Nashira I Brown; Robert A Oster; Dorothy Pekmezi; Laura Q Rogers

doi:10.1007/s11764-023-01389-y

Breast cancer survivors' exercise preferences change during an exercise intervention are associated with post-intervention physical activity

J Cancer Surviv. 2023 Apr 29. doi: 10.1007/s11764-023-01389-y. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Erica Schleicher^{1

2}, Edward McAuley^{3

4}, Kerry S Courneya⁵, Philip Anton⁶, Diane K Ehlers⁷, Siobhan M Phillips⁸, Nashira I Brown⁹, Robert A Oster^{10

11}, Dorothy Pekmezi^{9

10}, Laura Q Rogers^{10

11}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Health Behavior, School of Public Health, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA. Eas33@uab.edu.
² O'Neal Comprehensive Cancer Center at UAB, Birmingham, AL, USA. Eas33@uab.edu.
³ Department of Kinesiology and Community Health, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA.
⁴ The Cancer Center at Illinois, Urbana, IL, USA.
⁵ Faculty of Kinesiology, Sport, and Recreation, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada.
⁶ School of Human Sciences, Southern Illinois University Carbondale, Carbondale, IL, USA.
⁷ Division of Epidemiology, Mayo Clinic, Scottsdale, AZ, USA.
⁸ Department of Preventive Medicine, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL, USA.
⁹ Department of Health Behavior, School of Public Health, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA.
¹⁰ O'Neal Comprehensive Cancer Center at UAB, Birmingham, AL, USA.
¹¹ Division of Preventive Medicine, Department of Medicine, Birmingham, AL, USA.

PMID: 37120460
DOI: 10.1007/s11764-023-01389-y

Abstract

Purpose: Exercise program preferences are important for designing physical activity (PA) interventions; yet may change following an intervention. Further, the relationship between preferences and PA behavior change is unclear. This study evaluated exercise program preferences among breast cancer survivors (BCS) before and after a behavioral intervention and associations between program preferences and PA change.

Methods: BCS were randomized to the BEAT Cancer intervention (n = 110) or written materials (n = 112). Questionnaires assessed exercise program preferences. Minutes per week of moderate-to-vigorous PA (MVPA) were accelerometer-measured and self-reported at baseline (M0), post-intervention (M3), and 3-month follow-up (M6).

Results: At M0, the majority of intervention group participants preferred exercising with others (62%) yet shifted to preferring exercising alone (59%) at M3 (p < 0.001). Furthermore, preferring exercising with others at M0 was associated with greater increases in self-reported MVPA between M0 and M6 (124.2 ± 152 vs. 53.1 ± 113.8, p = 0.014). BCS preferring facility-based exercise decreased after the BEAT Cancer intervention (14% vs. 7%, p = 0.039) and preferring exercising at home/had no preference at M0 had greater improvements in accelerometer-measured MVPA from M0 to M3 (74.3 ± 118.8 vs. -2.3 ± 78.4, p = 0.033) and M0 to M6 (44.9 ± 112.8 vs. 9.3 ± 30.4, p = 0.021). Exercise program preferences regarding mode of counseling, training supervision, and type of exercise changed from M0 to M3 but were not associated with changes in MVPA.

Conclusion: Findings suggest BCS exercise program preferences may change after an intervention and be associated with changes in MVPA. Understanding the role of PA preferences will better inform the design and success of PA behavior change interventions. ClinicTrials.gov, ClinicalTrials.gov number: NCT00929617.

Keywords: Breast cancer survivors; Cancer; Exercise; Health behavior; Oncology; Preferences; Quality of life; Survivorship.

Associated data

ClinicalTrials.gov/NCT00929617

Abstract

Associated data

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