Long Term Effects of Behavioural Interventions to Increase Exercise Among Breast Cancer Patients After Medical Rehabilitation: secondary Analysis of a Randomized Controlled Trial

Abstract

Purpose Physical activity (PA) as secondary prevention for breast cancer patients has many positive effects. To evaluate the effectiveness of an intervention involving behavioural and volitional strategies to increase exercise. Materials and Methods The study designed as a randomized controlled trail with 2 follow-up (6 and 12 months after rehabilitation). 1,143 participants were randomized to one of the 4 study groups. Group differences were analysed by multi-level-models. Results After rehab, patients with the combined modules, aftercare-planning (AP) and telephone-support (TS), did exercise 69 min per week (95% CI: 42.85; 94.90) more than the control group. Inactive patients at the beginning of the rehabilitation benefit from the combined intervention. The phone-based intervention alone did not show any effect. Discussion and Conclusion Rehab with the AP module combined with the TS module is associated with patients undertaking more PA.