Increasing physical activity may lessen pain intensity for cancer survivors
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Key takeaways:
- Moderate to vigorous physical activity may reduce the intensity of pain experienced by cancer survivors.
- Previously inactive patients who increased physical activity after diagnosis reported less intense pain.
People with cancer who perform a certain level physical activity may experience less intense pain than people without cancer who are less active, according to data published in Cancer.
Because cancer survivors often experience ongoing pain throughout their lives, researchers said their study results point toward benefits of moderate to vigorous physical activity on a weekly basis.
“The most interesting finding was that people who were previously inactive but became active reported less pain than people who remained inactive,” Christopher T.V. Swain, PhD, of the University of Melbourne, told Healio. “This is important as it supports the benefit of increasing physical activity. The take-home message is the importance of finding ways to stay physically active after a cancer diagnosis and after cancer treatment. It’s not always easy but it can help people feel better.”
Background and methodology
Performing physical activity can provide certain pain relieving benefits for noncancer related symptoms, according to background information provided by the study investigators.
Swain and colleagues conducted a secondary analysis of data from the prospective Cancer Prevention Study II to evaluate the potential relationship between physical activity and pain in adults with and without a cancer history.
Researchers included self-reported responses regarding moderate to vigorous physical activity and pain intensity levels from 51,439 adults without a history of cancer and 10,651 adults with a history of cancer from the CPS II Nutrition Cohort.
They analyzed pain intensity as the study’s primary outcome measurement and analgesic use as a secondary outcome; study participants responded with updates on their usual physical activity while also rating their average pain levels on a scale from 0 to 10.
The U.S. guidelines recommend 150 to 300 minutes a week of moderate-intensity physical activity or 75 to 150 minutes a week of vigorous-intensity aerobic physical activity, according to study investigators.
Results
Researchers reported an inverse association between moderate to vigorous physical activity and pain intensity in adults with a history of cancer (OR = 0.84; 95% CI, 0.76-0.93) and without a history of cancer (OR = 0.79; 95% CI, 0.75-0.82).
Compared with individuals who self-reported as typically being inactive, those who became “sufficiently” active (cancer: OR = 0.76 [95% CI, 0.68-0.86]; no cancer: OR = 0.73 [95% CI, 0.69-0.77], became inactive (cancer: OR = 0.79; 95% CI, 0.71-0.88; no cancer = OR = 0.84; 95% CI, 0.8-0.89) or remained sufficiently active (cancer: OR = 0.66; 95% CI, 0.6-0.72; no cancer: OR = 0.62; 95% CI, 0.6-0.65) also reported less pain.
Physical activity appeared to not be related to analgesic use, according to researchers.
Next steps
Potential future studies should evaluate what type of physical activity best helps patients with a history of cancer with pain management later in life following a cancer diagnosis, according to researchers.
“We just looked at the experience of pain rather than the type of source of the pain, so we are not able to say what type of activity affects what type of pain,” Swain told Healio. “Future research also needs to consider how to support and encourage physical activity in people who have had cancer and do experience ongoing pain.”
For more information:
Christopher T.V. Swain, PhD, can be reached at christopher.swain@unimelb.edu.au.
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