Is bra discomfort a barrier to exercise for breast cancer patients?

Abstract

Goals of work Although exercise can provide a range of benefits for women living with a breast cancer diagnosis, many impediments to exercise exist. Several psychosocial and physical capacity impediments to exercise have been investigated, but no study has systematically investigated whether bras impede breast cancer patients from exercising. This study aimed to assess the extent to which exerciseinduced breast pain and bra discomfort were reported by women living with breast cancer and whether this breast pain and bra discomfort impeded these women from participating in physical activity. Patients and methods Seventy-four women living with a breast cancer diagnosis completed a custom-designed questionnaire. Frequency data were analyzed to identify the most common barriers to exercise, and features in current bra designs causing discomfort during exercise were established. Main results When analyzed according to mean score, "bra discomfort" ranked as the fourth highest barrier to exercise behind a lack of self-discipline, procrastination, and fatigued by exercise. A significant 70.3% of the sample (p<0.001) reported experiencing bra discomfort during exercise. Over half (57.7%) of these respondents reported the band as the most uncomfortable part of the bra. Conclusions This study has clearly established that bra discomfort, particularly bra band tightness, is a barrier to participating in physical activity for women living with a breast cancer diagnosis. To further encourage exercise in women living with a diagnosis of breast cancer, potential barriers to exercise, such as inadequate bra design, need to be modified to enable these women to enjoy the health benefits of exercising in comfort.

Exercise bra discomfort is associated with insufficient exercise levels among Australian women treated for breast cancer

“…Therefore, to encourage exercise participation among breast cancer survivors, these barriers to exercise need to be identified and minimised or removed [3]. In a recent study investigating 19 potential barriers to exercise, a lack of discipline, procrastination, being fatigued by exercise, and not being able to find a comfortable bra to exercise in, were ranked as the top four barriers to exercise by women treated for breast cancer [10]. Of these 19 barriers, bra discomfort is the highest ranked barrier that can be modified through an external intervention, such as by providing exercise bras that suit the needs of breast cancer survivors.…”

“…Despite this, only one other study could be located which investigated the impact of bra discomfort on exercise levels among breast cancer survivors [10]. In that study, a significant proportion of respondents (70%) experienced exercise bra discomfort, although this was not related to weekly exercise levels or reported physical side effects.…”

Exercise Barriers in Korean Colorectal Cancer Patients

“…The limitation of these studies is that results from these studies could only be applied to patients who are participating in regular or scheduled exercise sessions. Meanwhile, other studies, including our current study, on exercise barriers perceived in a typical day used different questionnaires Perna et al, 2008;Rogers et al, 2008;Gho et al, 2010;Loh et al, 2011). Therefore, the results should be carefully interpreted, taking study method and assessment tools into account.…”

“…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.…”

Self-reported side effects of breast cancer treatment: a cross-sectional study of incidence, associations, and the influence of exercise

“…The online survey instrument was based on a previously validated paper-based questionnaire [19]. To validate the online version, seven focus groups with breast cancer patients were conducted (total participants = 20) at community centers around the greater Sydney area.…”