Original article
Physical Activity and Sedentary Behavior in Breast and Colon Cancer Survivors Relative to Adults Without Cancer

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mayocp.2016.12.015Get rights and content

Abstract

Objective

To assess differences in accelerometer-assessed moderate- to vigorous-intensity physical activity (MVPA), light-intensity physical activity, and sedentary time between cancer survivors and adults without cancer.

Patients and Methods

Accelerometer data collected from 241 breast cancer survivors (ACCEL-Breast study, 2013) and 171 colon cancer survivors (ACCEL-Colon study, 2012-2013) were pooled with data collected from adults without cancer (Australian Diabetes, Obesity and Lifestyle accelerometer substudy, 2011-2012). Linear regression was used to estimate differences in physical activity and sedentary behavior levels between cancer survivors and adults without cancer, adjusted for potential confounding factors.

Results

The mean MVPA was significantly higher among breast cancer survivors than among females who had not had cancer (29 vs 22 min/d; P<.001). Colon cancer survivors had significantly lower levels of light activity than did adults without cancer (311 vs 338 min/d; P<.001), more sedentary time (532 vs 507 min/d; P=.003), and more prolonged sedentary time (210 vs 184 min/d; P=.002).

Conclusion

Contrary to findings from previous research (based on self-reported physical activity), cancer survivors engaged in more (breast) or equivalent (colon) MVPA compared with adults without cancer. Differences between colon cancer survivors and adults without cancer for light activity and sedentary behavior highlight the importance of considering the full activity spectrum in the context of cancer control.

Section snippets

Study Population

Data for these analyses were drawn from 3 cross-sectional studies: ACCEL-Breast,23 ACCEL-Colon,24 and the Australian Diabetes, Obesity and Lifestyle (AusDiab) accelerometer substudy.25 All studies obtained ethics approval and written informed consent from their participants. In addition, ethics approval was obtained for these secondary data analyses from Human Research Ethics Committees at the Western Australia (WA) Department of Health and the Department of Medical Education at the University

Results

In total there were 241 breast cancer survivors and 395 females without cancer for the first model, and 171 colon cancer survivors and 693 adults without cancer for the second model. The characteristics of participants in this study are described in Table 1. There were significant differences between cancer survivors and adults without cancer for all sociodemographic and lifestyle variables (P<.05) except for BMI and partner status. There were also significant differences between cancer

Discussion

These analyses pooled data from 3 cross-sectional studies (ACCEL-Breast, ACCEL-Colon, and the AusDiab accelerometer substudy) to assess whether breast and colon cancer survivors engaged in different amounts of physical activity or sedentary behavior than adults who had not had cancer. Breast cancer survivors were more likely to engage in MVPA than women without cancer, and colon cancer survivors engaged in an equivalent amount of MVPA to adults without cancer. These findings are contrary to

Conclusion

The present study suggests that breast cancer survivors engage in more, and colon cancer survivors engage in equivalent, MVPA than do adults who have not been diagnosed with cancer. The differing results between our findings based on accelerometer and previous research using self-reported data suggest that self-reported physical activity may subject to differential exposure misclassification bias (different for cancer survivors and adults without cancer). Thus, we suggest that physical activity

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    • Cited by (0)

    Grant Support: This study was supported by Early Career Fellowships 1072266 (T.B.) from the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC), fellowship 300068 (T.B.) from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, postdoctoral fellowship 5553 (T.B.) from the Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research, and an honorary Killam Postdoctoral Research Fellowship from The University of British Columbia; the Canada Research Chairs program and a Population Health Investigator Award from Alberta Innovates – Health Solutions (J.K.V.); grant 1057608 (E.A.H.W.) from the NHMRC Centre for Research Excellence; and by a Career Development Fellowship (B.M.L.) from the National Breast Cancer Foundation. The ACCEL-Breast study was supported by the Breast Cancer Research Centre – WA. The AusDiab accelerometer substudy was supported by grant 566940 from the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Program and grant 1000986 from the NHMRC Centre of Research Excellence.

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