Abstract PR04: Engaging in physical activity after a cancer diagnosis: A Detroit ROCS study
Authors: Ruterbusch Julie J. , Schwartz Ann G. , Albrecht Terrance , Baird Tara , Finlay Dave , Harper Felicity , Pandolfi Stephanie , Mantey Julia , Rundle Andrew G. , Beebe-Dimmer Jennifer L. 
Published: August 2020

Background: The benefit of regular exercise in improving cancer outcomes is well established. In 2012, the American Cancer Society (ACS) released a recommendation statement that cancer survivors should engage in regular physical activity (PA) as soon as possible after a cancer diagnosis with the goal of engaging in at least 150 minutes per week of moderate to vigorous PA (1). However, few cancer survivors report meeting this recommendation (2). Using data from the Detroit Research on Cancer Survivors (ROCS) study, we examined the patterns of PA and its association with health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in a cohort of African American cancer survivors.

Methods: Detroit ROCS participants complete baseline and yearly follow-up surveys to update their health and provide information on health behaviors including PA, using the International Physical Activity Questionnaire-short form. We assessed the number of survivors who reported participating in regular PA and those who reported ≥150 minutes of moderate to vigorous PA per week by select characteristics and reported HRQOL measured using the Functional Assessment in Cancer Therapy (FACT) and Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) instruments.

Results: Among the first 1,000 ROCS participants, 58% reported participating in regular PA with just 22% reporting engaging in ≥150 minutes of PA per week. While there were no differences by sex, prostate cancer survivors were the most likely to report participating in regular PA while lung cancer survivors were the least likely (p=0.009). There was a positive relationship between self-reported education and area-level affluence based on US census data with PA (p&lt;0.001 and p=0.019, respectively). Survivors who reported participating in regular PA also reported higher HRQOL (p&lt;0.001) and lower depression (p=0.036). The same patterns were observed among those reporting ≥150 minutes of PA per week, and additionally we found lower reported anxiety among survivors who report meeting ACS guidelines (PROMIS-Cancer anxiety score, p&lt;0.001). Among survivors who completed their first follow-up survey (N=389), a higher proportion of survivors reported participating in regular PA (71%, p&lt;0.001) and getting ≥150 minutes of PA per week (32%, p&lt;0.001).

Conclusions: Fewer than 25% of African American cancer survivors reported meeting the ACS guidelines for PA at baseline recruitment; however, it was encouraging to see significant increases in PA engagement over time. Given the established benefits associated with regular exercise and cancer outcomes, and the positive correlation on HRQOL and inverse relationship with depression observed in this study, identifying, understanding, and eliminating barriers to regular moderate to vigorous PA among African American cancer survivors is critical. Future study of ROCS subjects will attempt to establish the temporality of these relationships.

This abstract is also being presented as Poster C048.

Citation Format: Julie J. Ruterbusch, Ann G. Schwartz, Terrance Albrecht, Tara Baird, Dave Finlay, Felicity Harper, Stephanie Pandolfi, Julia Mantey, Andrew G. Rundle, Jennifer L. Beebe-Dimmer. Engaging in physical activity after a cancer diagnosis: A Detroit ROCS study [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Eleventh AACR Conference on the Science of Cancer Health Disparities in Racial/Ethnic Minorities and the Medically Underserved; 2018 Nov 2-5; New Orleans, LA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2020;29(6 Suppl):Abstract nr PR04.