Assessing the Suitability of a Virtual ‘Pink Warrior’ for Older Breast Cancer Survivors during COVID-19: A Pilot Study

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic impacted the conduct of in-person physical activity (PA) interventions among older survivors of BC, who need such interventions to stay active and prevent functional decline. We tested the feasibility of virtually delivering an exergame-based PA intervention to older BC survivors. We enrolled 20 female BC survivors ≥55 years and randomly assigned them to two groups. The intervention group (Pink Warrior 2) received 12 weekly virtual exergame sessions with behavioral coaching, survivorship navigation support, and a Fitbit for self-monitoring. The control group received 12 weekly phone-based survivorship discussion sessions and wore a Mi Band 3. Feasibility was evaluated by rates of recruitment (≥0.92 participants/center/month), retention (≥80%), and group attendance (≥10 sessions), percentage of completed virtual assessments, and number of technology-related issues and adverse events. Intervention acceptability was measured by participants’ ratings on a scale of 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree). The recruitment rate was 1.93. The retention and attendance rates were 90% and 88% (≥10 sessions), respectively. Ninety-six percent completed virtual assessments without an adverse event. Acceptability was high (≥4). The intervention met benchmarks for feasibility. Additional research is needed to further understand the impact of virtually delivered PA interventions on older BC survivors.

A Deep Dive into the Nexus between Digital Health and Life Sciences Amidst the COVID-19 Pandemic: An Editorial Expedition

“…All the other studies [ 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 ] have dealt with the use of DH in the life sciences, which, in addition to bioengineering, touched by all, have examined, from time to time, other categories ( Table 1 ), such as Anatomy [ 8 , 11 ], Bioinformatics [ 14 , 16 ], Cell biology [ 8 , 11 ], Neuroscience [ 8 , 12 , 15 , 17 , 20 ], Physiology [ 9 , 10 , 12 , 13 ], Population biology [ 14 , 16 , 18 , 19 ], and others that are shown in Table 1 .…”

“…The importance of DH application in the physiological issues related to physical activity was investigated in [ 12 , 13 ], through population surveys. In [ 12 ], the authors tested the feasibility of virtually delivering an exergame-based physical activity intervention to older breast cancer survivors, while the authors of the study reported, in [ 13 ], that they investigated the changes experienced by Austrian therapists when switching to psychotherapy at a distance.…”

“…The published works on the DH, reported in the collection [ 1 , 2 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 ], demonstrate the usefulness of DH in connecting various branches of life sciences, especially during the pandemic. The use of DH in contact tracing has been particularly significant, with several studies reporting on its impact and factors influencing its use [ 2 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 ].…”

“…Additionally, DH applications have been used in biomedical diagnostics [ 8 , 11 ], physical activity [ 12 , 13 ], mental health monitoring [ 17 ], and remote healthcare interventions [ 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 ].…”

“…Moreover, the support of Artificial Intelligence (AI) has further amplified the impact of DH in diagnostics [ 8 , 11 ], physical activity monitoring [ 12 ], obesity diagnosis [ 12 ], and healthcare interventions and determinants on the population [ 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 ].…”