Physical Activity and Sedentary Behavior in Patients With Breast Cancer: Results of a Single Cohort in the Midwestern United States

Abstract

Purpose: Physical activity and sedentary behavior have significant prognostic importance in survivors of breast cancer. However, not much is known about physical activity and sedentary behavior in the midwestern United States for patients who have breast cancer. This study provides patient-reported physical activity and sedentary behavior from a cohort of patients from the midwestern United States. Methods: A survey assessed physical activity and sedentary behavior from patients with all types of local or invasive breast cancer and ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS). Demographic information and characteristics of participants’ breast cancer, including time since diagnosis, type of cancer, and remission status were gathered. Results: Data from 108 patients reveal diverse physical activity and sedentary behavior patterns. Seventeen individuals (15.9%) report not engaging in any form of physical activity and only 15.9% report meeting national guideline recommendations of greater than 150 minutes of moderate intensity-equivalent physical activity per week. A wide range of physical activity in minutes was reported across age, time since diagnosis, type of cancer and remission status, none of which was statistically significant. Participants report sitting or reclining an average of 6.1 hours (SD = 3.9) per day during a typical workday and 5.8 hours (SD = 3.8) on a typical non-workday. Conclusions: Our study provides information about physical activity and sedentary behavior in a cohort of midwestern patients with breast cancer and indicates that the majority of the patients could be at high risk for long-term adverse prognosis. Tailored lifestyle programs to enhance physical activity and decrease sedentary behavior are critical to improve outcomes. Our results indicate that clinicians should incorporate healthy lifestyle medicine recommendations for all patients living with breast cancer at any age or time since diagnosis, independent of cancer type or remission status.