Exercise interventions and their effect on masculinity, body image, and personal identity in prostate cancer—A systematic qualitative review

Abstract

Objective Men with prostate cancer face various body composition and psychosocial challenges following diagnosis. Movement‐based interventions such as exercise may represent novel strategies to improve these important biopsychosocial changes. This systematic qualitative review aimed to examine the various exercise interventions and their effect on male perception of masculinity, body image, and personal identity. Methods A systematic search across nine electronic databases was conducted in July 2017 and repeated in August 2018. Eligible studies included qualitative works examining masculinity, body image, or personal identity within an exercise intervention. Thematic content analysis allowed for qualitative synthesis across numerous studies. Results Six studies met eligibility criteria for inclusion. Four interventions used multimodal aerobic and resistance training, one incorporated aerobic exercise through football practice, and one utilized a home‐based aerobic plus yoga program. Exercise was implicated to improve masculinity through creation of a safe community, allowed for refocusing on valued male traits, provided a source of distraction, and offered a means of establishing control over one's illness. Exercise also facilitated a process of self‐reflection secondary to changes in physique and helped to re‐establish male self‐efficacy. Conclusions Regardless of prostate cancer stage, treatment status, or prior androgen deprivation therapy exposure, both aerobic or aerobic and resistance training exerted positive effects on perceived feelings of masculinity, body image, and personal identity.

Sexual and Psychoemotional Disorders in Male Patients Treated for Prostate Carcinoma

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Improving the Physical Quality of Students by Prescription Teaching Mode

“…It can be seen from Table 1 that after the intervention, the rate of excellent physical fitness of the experimental group students increased from 10.03% before the experiment to 18.73%, the excellent rate increased from 26.99% to 45.13%, and the failure rate decreased from 16.96% to 8.11%. 6 The exercise feeling test after the intervention showed (Table 2) that comparing the two dimensions of refreshment and active participation in the experimental group was significantly higher than that in the control group (P<0.05). Students' active exercise feeling indicates the mental state of students participating in physical education and health education.…”

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“…It is recommended that patients are active to aid recovery from treatments, long-term bone and cardiac health,and psychological health [10]. Metastatic prostate cancer patients are treated with long-term androgen deprivation and steroid manipulation, and these therapies come at a cost.…”