Barriers Identification as Intervention to Engage Breast Cancer Survivors in Physical Activity

Abstract

Although scientific evidence supports the role of physical activity (PA) as a safe and effective intervention for improving health-related quality of life (for a review, see Mishra et al., 2012;Irwin, 2009), the majority of cancer survivors do not comply with public health guidelines (Blanchard, Courneya, & Stein, 2008;Lynch et al., 2010), i.e. at least 150 minutes per week of moderate-intensity aerobic PA throughout the week or at least 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity aerobic PA throughout the week, or an equivalent combination of This study was designed to demonstrate the advantage of adding cancer barriers to components of decision-making in the transtheoretical model (TTM). In study 1, questionnaires were completed by 139 breast cancer survivors including decisional balance, cancer-related barriers and stages of readiness. In study 2, efficiency of directly tackling cancer-related barriers through motivational-style conversation was tested in a quasi-experimental design. From study 1, all decisionmaking variables were related to stages of readiness, but cancer-related barriers were the sole predictors of engagement in physical activity. Out of the three groups of study 2, only the group with motivational-style conversation displayed a significant progress for engagement in physical activity. Demonstrating that cancer-related barriers predict stage of change above the effects of the two components of decisional balance provides a validation of positions that put cancer-related barriers as uniquely related to stages of change, and suggests that adding them in decision making variables in TTM's model can provide a genuinely new contribution to the understanding of physical activity adherence. Regarding implication for cancer survivors, these results suggest that in order to stimulate progress in early stages of change, a greater emphasis may be needed on reducing cancer-related barriers. La identificación de barreras como intervención para involucrar a supervivientes de cáncer de mama en actividades físicas R E S U M E NEste estudio fue diseñado para demostrar la ventajas de tener en cuenta las barreras relacionadas con el cáncer en el proceso de toma de decisiones en el modelo transteórico. En el estudio 1 los cuestionarios fueron respondidos por 139 supervivientes de cáncer de mama, en ellos se incluyó el equilibrio decisional, las barreras relacionadas con el cáncer y las etapas de preparación. En el estudio 2 la eficacia de abordar las barreras relacionadas con el cáncer a través de conversaciones de tipo motivacional se puso a prueba con un diseño cuasi-experimental. En el estudio 1 todas las variables de toma de decisiones se relacionaron con las etapas de preparación, pero las barreras relacionadas con el cáncer fueron los únicos predictores de la participación en la actividad física. De los tres grupos del estudio 2, sólo el grupo con conversación de tipo motivacional mostró un progreso significativo para la participación en la actividad física. Demostrar que las barreras relacionadas con el cáncer pre...

Lifestyle Behavior Interventions for Preventing Cancer in Adults with Inherited Cancer Syndromes: Systematic Review

“… Studies not assessing behavioral interventions (for example evaluating the effect of medication or screening). Studies in people receiving active treatment for cancer, as they experience different cancer-related barriers and have different motivation towards interventions that improve quality of life or symptoms rather than reducing risk [ 33 ]. Expert and medical society recommendations, editorials, reviews, and commentaries.…”

“…Studies in people receiving active treatment for cancer, as they experience different cancer-related barriers and have different motivation towards interventions that improve quality of life or symptoms rather than reducing risk [ 33 ].…”