The association between physical activity and health-related quality of life among breast cancer survivors

Abstract

BackgroundThe quality of life for breast cancer survivors has become increasingly important because of their high survival rate and prolonged life expectancy. The purpose of this study was to examine the association of physical activity following diagnosis and health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in breast cancer survivors.MethodsWe conducted a cross-sectional study of breast cancer survivors. A total of 231 women aged 21–78 years who had been diagnosed with stages I to III breast cancer and had breast cancer surgery at least 6 months prior were recruited from three hospitals between September 2012 and April 2015 and were included in this study. We asked participants about their HRQOL and engagement in physical activity using structured questionnaires. We examined the association between HRQOL levels and physical activity using a generalized linear model.ResultsBreast cancer survivors in the high physical activity group (3rd tertile) were more likely to have lower scores for fatigue (p for trend = 0.001) and pain (p for trend = 0.02) and higher scores for sexual function (p for trend = 0.007) than those in the low physical activity group (1st tertile). When we stratified participants by stage, we found increasing scores for physical functioning (p for trend =0.01) and decreasing scores for fatigue (p for trend = 0.02) with increasing levels of physical activity in breast cancer survivors with stage I breast cancer. In survivors with stages II and III, we found statistically significant associations with fatigue (p for trend = 0.02) and sexual functioning (p for trend = 0.001).ConclusionsIn conclusion, engagement in physical activity was related to better health-related quality of life among breast cancer survivors. Our findings may warrant further prospective and intervention studies to support the benefit of physical activity in improving the quality of life and survival of Korean breast cancer survivors.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12955-017-0706-9) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Adherence to the American Cancer Society Guidelines for Cancer Survivors and Health-Related Quality of Life among Breast Cancer Survivors

“…The findings of the present study are consistent with our previous research and other observational studies [3][4][5]23,24,26,35,36]. We found that Korean breast cancer survivors with greater adherence to the ACS guidelines had higher levels of social functioning, which was assessed by a validated Korean version of the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire Core 30 (EORTC QLQ-C30) [24].…”

“…We found that Korean breast cancer survivors with greater adherence to the ACS guidelines had higher levels of social functioning, which was assessed by a validated Korean version of the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire Core 30 (EORTC QLQ-C30) [24]. In our previous cross-sectional study, higher physical activity levels were associated with a better quality of life in terms of fatigue, pain, and sexual functioning among Korean women who had been diagnosed with breast cancer [5]. In another cross-sectional study that we conducted, two dietary patterns, the healthy dietary pattern and the Western dietary pattern, were empirically derived using factor analysis among Korean breast cancer survivors, and higher healthy dietary pattern scores were associated with decreasing dyspnea and increasing insomnia scores [35].…”

Physical Activity and Health-Related Quality of Life in Rural Adults with Chronic Disease

“…These results are consistent with randomized controlled trials that have shown increases in PA with simultaneous increases in HRQOL [19,20,21,22]. These findings are further supported by studies that have shown increased HRQOL in physically active participants with chronic diseases [23][24][25][26][27][28][29]. Finally, these results are consistent with studies that have shown significant relationships between PA and HRQOL among rural adults suffering from chronic illness [30,31].…”

Assessing the effect of patient navigator assistance for psychosocial support services on health‐related quality of life in a randomized clinical trial in Latino breast, prostate, and colorectal cancer survivors

“…Recent advances in prevention, screening, and treatment have resulted in longer survival for cancer survivors, particularly those diagnosed with early‐stage disease . However, a significant proportion of these survivors continue to experience decrements to health‐related quality of life (HRQOL) even years after the completion of their cancer treatment, including chronic pain, fatigue, sexual dysfunction, and psychosocial concerns such as depression, anxiety, and decreased social support . Compared with non‐Latino whites (NLWs), Latinos face disproportionately higher mortality and worse HRQOL after the diagnosis and treatment of the 3 most common nonskin cancers: prostate, breast, and colorectal cancer .…”

“…2,3 However, a significant proportion of these survivors continue to experience decrements to healthrelated quality of life (HRQOL) even years after the completion of their cancer treatment, [4][5][6][7][8][9] including chronic pain, fatigue, sexual dysfunction, and psychosocial concerns such as depression, anxiety, and decreased social support. 3,[10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20] Compared with non-Latino whites (NLWs), Latinos face disproportionately higher mortality and worse HRQOL after the diagnosis and treatment of the 3 most common nonskin cancers: prostate, breast, and colorectal cancer. [21][22][23][24][25][26] Latinos are also more likely to have less educational attainment, live below the federal poverty level, and lack both health insurance and a primary care provider in comparison with NLWs.…”