Exercise barrier and task self-efficacy in breast cancer patients during treatment

Abstract

Understanding exercise self-efficacy in breast cancer patients during treatment is important for enhancing physical activity adherence. Therefore, the primary study purpose was to determine, among breast cancer patients during treatment, the psychometric properties of scales to measure exercise barrier and task self-efficacy. The study also aimed to determine the following: (1) level of self-efficacy, (2) associations between barrier and task self-efficacy, and (3) associations between self-efficacy and patient age, race, and treatment type. Eighty-six female breast cancer patients recruited from a medical oncologist's office completed the scales once, and 46 repeated the scales 2 weeks later. The majority were Caucasian (95%), with 26% receiving chemotherapy, 64% hormonal therapy alone, and 5% radiation/other. The mean age was 59+/-14 years. The Cronbach's alpha for the nine-item barrier self-efficacy scale was 0.96, with a test-retest correlation of 0.89 (p<0.001). The Cronbach's alpha for the four-item task self-efficacy scale was 0.89, with a test-retest correlation of 0.83 (p<0.001). The mean barrier self-efficacy was slightly to moderately confident, with the lowest confidence reported in the ability to exercise when nauseated. The mean task self-efficacy was slightly to moderately confident, with the lowest confidence reported in the ability to jog for 10 min without stopping. Although no significant associations were found between self-efficacy and participant's race or treatment type, lower task self-efficacy was associated with older age (r=-0.36, p=0.001). Both self-efficacy scales demonstrated good internal consistency and test-retest reliability. Self-efficacy may be a useful target for physical activity interventions among breast cancer patients during treatment.

Physical exercise as adjuvant therapy for patients undergoing hematopoietic stem cell transplantation

“…For instance, up to now, the influence of physical exercise interventions relating to the changes in self-efficacy and locus of control 54,55 among HSCT patients has not been examined. Also, questions about the efficacy of exercise intervention strategies to positively influence psychological distress (stress reduction and modulation) should become of interest.…”

Physical Activity and Cancer

“…Although physical problems resulting from cancer disease and treatment do not necessarily prevent a person from being active, they may significantly lower an individual's perception of their ability to be active. For example, Rogers et al (2006) found that cancer survivors were least confident in their ability to exercise when they were feeling nauseated. The concept of perceived behavioural control stems from self-efficacy theory (Bandura, 1997), which, when applied to physical activity, states that individuals with high levels of self-efficacy (also defined as people's beliefs in their abilities) will perceive fewer barriers to physical activity, or be less affected by them.…”

“…Conversely, studies have found that autonomous motives are linked with more positive attitudes towards exercise both in the general population and amongst cancer survivors, and it has been shown that autonomous motivations result in a higher level of physical activity engagement (Ryan et al, 1997;Wilson et al, , 2006. Since cancer survivors report lack of enjoyment as a barrier to physical activity (Leddy, 1997;Rogers et al, 2006;Rogers et al, 2007), it may be important to take into account cancer survivors' preferences in constructing physical activity programmes in order that they are more intrinsically enjoyable, providing autonomous motives and may therefore be more likely to be adhered to.…”

“…Physical activity participation is typically found to be higher in men than in women (Trost et al, 2002), and gender differences in reported barriers and motivation may help to explain differences between gender-specific cancers (Kim et al, 2010;Smith et al, 1998;Ottenbacher et al, 2011). Further, some barriers are related to, or exacerbated by, physical decline in old age, such as muscular and joint problems (Craike et al, 2011) and fear of falling (Arfken et al, 1994), and older age has been associated both with lower levels of self-efficacy and lower levels of physical activity in cancer survivors (Bellizzi et al, 2005;Rogers et al, 2006).…”

Exercise Barriers in Korean Colorectal Cancer Patients

“…Several studies have been conducted to explore the barriers that keep cancer patients from participating in exercise, including breast (Nelson, 1991;Leddy, 1997;Rogers et al, 2006;Rogers et al, 2007;Courneya et al, 2008;Gho et al, 2010;Loh et al, 2012;Ottenbacher et al, 2013), prostate (Ottenbacher et al, 2013), and head and neck (Rogers et al, 2008) cancer. For colorectal cancer, Courneya et al (2005) identified exercise barriers during an exercise program intervention and Lynch et al (2010) reported barriers to physical activity for colorectal cancer patients according to the time period after diagnosis.…”