Abstract B97: Physical activity and social support: Racial differences among female cancer survivors
Authors: Jabson Jennifer M. , Bowen Deborah J. 
Published: December 2010

Introduction: In 2006 there were 11.4 million cancer survivors reported in the United States (NCI, 2008) and more than 67% of those diagnosed with cancer will ultimately surpass the five year ‘cancer free mark’, becoming “cancer survivors.” The National Cancer Institute (2008) broadly defines cancer survivorship as the “physical, psychological, and economic issues of cancer from diagnosis until the end of life” and accumulating evidence makes clear that the quality of women's cancer survivorship is influenced by a constellation factors including physical activity and social support. However, women of color suffer a greater burden of mortality from cancer, elevated negative health symptoms and compromised survivorship characteristics compared to white female cancer survivors. Both physical activity and social support are independently shown to have a positive influence on physical and psychological functioning, however it remains unclear how these factors vary by women's race/ethnicity. The primary focus of this study is to assess the racial and ethnic differences in female cancer survivor's physical activity and social support. Secondarily this work explores the relationships between physical activity and social support and their interactive influence on cancer survivorship among a racially diverse sample of female cancer survivors.

Methods: Data for this study were derived from the 2005 Health Information National Trends Survey (HINTS). HINTS is a national probability survey of health communication and information among US adults aged 18 and over. Participants were recruited via random digit dialing (n= 3582) and random mail surveys (n= 4092). HINTS was selected for use in this study for three reasons, 1) provides a reasonable sample of female cancer survivors (n= 577); 2) provides a racially diverse sample of ethnic minority cancer survivors (n= 75 non white); and 3) allows for the exploration racial/ethnic differences in physical activity and social support among female cancer survivors.

Results: Of the entire sample of cancer survivors in this data set, 87% report having social support in the form of a friend or family member to talk to about their health. Of these, 99% of white cancer survivors reported having friends and family to talk to about their health and 86% of non-white female cancer survivors report having a friend or family member to talk to about their health. In terms of physical activity, when asked about engagement in moderate-intensity physical activity in a given week, 99% of the sample reported some moderate-intensity physical activity. When analyzed by race/ethnicity, 78% of the white female cancer survivors and 75% of non-white cancer survivors engaged in some moderate-intensity physical activity in a typical week. Statistical analyses were conducted using SPSS 18.8.

Conclusions: An encouraging finding here is that non-white and white female cancer survivors report similar levels of physical activity, a known beneficial factor in cancer survivorship outcomes. Female cancer survivors reported a friend for family member as a source of social support; however this differs by race/ethnicity where non-white female cancer survivors are reporting less social support than white cancer survivors. This is an important finding when designing, and promoting social support resources for female cancer survivors to better include cancer survivors of color.

Citation Information: Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2010;19(10 Suppl):B97.