Outdoor Adventure Therapy to Increase Physical Activity in Young Adult Cancer Survivors

A scoping review of studies exploring physical activity among adolescents and young adults diagnosed with cancer

“…The remaining articles (n = 89) and the 43 articles for which we did not hear back from the corresponding authors were subsequently excluded . In total, 32 articles representing 26 unique studies met eligibility criteria and were therefore reviewed…”

“…Five articles used quantitative methods to explore the effects of various types of physical activity interventions (see supplemental file S6). Inconsistent findings were observed for physical (ie, aerobic capacity [n = 3] and pulmonary functioning [n = 2]), personal / psychological (ie, enjoyment of leisure activities [n = 1] and quality of life [n = 4]), other health behaviors (ie, sedentary behavior [n = 1]), and other factors (ie, barriers to physical activity [n = 1]).…”

“…In addition, our review highlights that only 6 experimental studies were conducted to examine the effects of physical activity on AYAs' physical (ie, aerobic capacity and pulmonary), personal/psychological (ie, enjoyment of leisure activities and quality of life), other health behaviors (ie, sedentary behavior), and other factors (ie, barriers to physical activity). Five of these studies employed quantitative methods and 2 provide preliminary evidence that physical activity can significantly improve symptoms of fatigue .…”

“…Fifth, among the 6 articles reporting on physical activity interventions, only 2 followed‐up with participants weeks or months postintervention . This hinders the ability to draw any conclusions regarding the sustained effects of physical activity, shedding light on the necessity of longer interventions with lengthier and more frequent assessments.…”

Challenges and opportunities in the care of survivors of adolescent and young adult cancers

“…Nine of these targeted physical activity, one targeted sun protection and the remaining study targeted smoking. Again, sample sizes were relatively small except for two studies with at least 100 participants . Gill et al concluded that a week‐long outdoor adventure therapy camp increased physical activity levels during camp and for 3 months after camp termination.…”