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Physical activity associated with better QoL in colon cancer survivors
Accelerometer-assessed physical activity, but not sedentary time, was associated with improved health-related quality of life, physical function and disease-specific symptoms in colon cancer survivors, according to recent study data.
Jeff K. Vallance, PhD, Athabasca University, Canada, and colleagues collected survey data on health-related quality of life (HRQoL), physical function and well-being, fatigue, and colorectal cancer-specific symptoms (CCS) of 178 colon cancer survivors (mean age, 64.3 years, 56% men) from Alberta, Canada,(n=92) and Western Australia (n=86). Moderate- to vigorous-intensity physical activity (MVPA) and sedentary time were measured by an Actigraph GT3X+ accelerometer for 7 days, during which participants wore the device for all waking hours. Individuals were quartile-stratified by average daily MVPA minutes: <12 (Q1), 12 to <23.6 (Q2), 23.6 <39.9 (Q3) and ≥39.9 (Q4).
Jeff K. Vallance
Mean MVPA per day was 28.5 minutes. Approximately 53.4% of participants performed at least 150 minutes of MVPA weekly, but only 15.7% of them did so in sessions lasting at least 10-minutes as recommended by public health guidelines. Nevertheless, all participants who achieved at least 150 minutes of MVPA weekly reported better HRQoL (P=.018), physical function and well-being (P=.014), fatigue (P=.027) and CCS (P=.002) compared with those who did not. No significant trends were observed for MVPA accrued in at least 10-minute sessions, nor for sedentary time.
“In support of our hypotheses,” the researchers wrote, “we observed significant associations of objectively assessed MVPA with HRQoL” and related outcomes.
“Contrary to our hypothesis, sedentary time was not significantly associated with HRQoL and related outcomes,” the investigators concluded. “The associations shown here highlight new and interesting connections of objectively assessed MVPA and sedentary time with HRQoL and related outcomes among colon cancer survivors that should be investigated further in prospective studies or intervention trials.”
Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.