Background A cancer diagnosis may provide a ‘teachable moment’ in cancer recovery. To better understand factors influencing lifestyle choices following diagnosis, we examined associations between time since diagnosis and symptom burden with recommended dietary (e.g., 5+ fruit/vegetable servings/day), physical activity (e.g., >150 active minutes, 3–5 times/week) and smoking behaviors (i.e., eliminate tobacco use) in cancer survivors. Methods We analyzed cross-sectional survey data collected from breast (n=528), colorectal (n=106) and prostate (n=419) cancer survivors following active treatment at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. Four regression models were tested for behaviors of interest. Additionally, we assessed symptom burden as a potential moderator and/or mediator between time since diagnosis and behaviors. Results Respondents were mostly female (55%) and non-Hispanic white (68%) with a mean age of 62.8 ± 11.4 years and mean time since diagnosis of 4.6 ± 3.1 years. In regression models, greater time since diagnosis predicted lower fruit and vegetable consumption (B=−0.05, p=0.02) and more cigarette smoking (B=0.06, p=0.105). Greater symptom burden was a significant negative predictor for physical activity (B=−0.08, p<.001). We did not find evidence that symptom burden moderated or mediated the association between time since diagnosis and health behaviors. Conclusion We assessed the prevalence of recommended behaviors in the context of other challenges that survivors face, including time since diagnosis and symptom burden. Our results provide indirect evidence that proximity to a cancer diagnosis may provide a teachable moment to improve dietary and smoking behaviors and that symptom burden may impede physical activity following diagnosis.

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Gum chewing has been shown to improve cognitive performance in adults; however, gum chewing has not been evaluated in children. This study examined the effects of gum chewing on standardized test scores and class grades of eighth grade math students. Math classes were randomized to a gum chewing (GC) condition that provided students with gum during class and testing, or a control condition with no gum (NGC). Participants included 108 students. The math sections of the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS) and the Woodcock Johnson III Tests of Achievement (WJ‐III), and math class grades were used to assess academic performance. Students in the gum chewing condition improved standardized test scores and maintained higher grades in math class compared to those in the no‐gum chewing condition. These results are encouraging as gum chewing may be a cost‐effective and easily implemented method to increase student performance.Trial Registration: NCT00792116.

The COVID-19 pandemic led to delays in routine preventative primary care and declines in HPV immunization rates. Providers and healthcare organizations needed to explore new ways to engage individuals to resume preventive care behaviors. Thus, we evaluated the effectiveness of using customized electronic reminders with provider recommendations for HPV vaccination to increase HPV vaccinations among adolescents and young adults, ages 9–25. Using stratified randomization, participants were divided into two groups: usual care (control) (N = 3703) and intervention (N = 3705). The control group received usual care including in-person provider recommendations, visual reminders in exam waiting rooms, bundling of vaccinations, and phone call reminders. The intervention group received usual care and an electronic reminder (SMS, email or patient portal message) at least once, and up to three times (spaced at an interval of 1 reminder per month). The intervention group had a 17% statistically significantly higher odds of uptake of additional HPV vaccinations than the usual care group (Adjusted Odds Ratio: 1.17, 95% CI: 1.01–1.36). This work supports previous findings that electronic reminders are effective at increasing immunizations and potentially decreasing healthcare costs for the treatment of HPV-related cancers.