Effect of a brief physical activity-based presentation by a former patient for men treated with radical prostatectomy for prostate cancer: a mixed methods pilot study.
Support Care Cancer 2020;
29:145-154. [PMID:
32323003 PMCID:
PMC7686188 DOI:
10.1007/s00520-020-05455-4]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/18/2020] [Accepted: 04/01/2020] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
Purpose
Existing research indicates that physical activity (PA) is beneficial to men with prostate cancer (PCa). We examined the potential of a single-contact peer-support-based behavioural intervention to promote PA engagement in men treated for PCa.
Methods
A mixed methods design was employed, comprising a two-arm pragmatic trial and semi-structured interviews. The intervention was a 10-min PA-based presentation by a former patient, delivered in group seminars that are provided for patients as standard care. Seminars were alternately allocated to (a) cancer exercise specialist talk + patient speaker talk or (b) cancer exercise specialist talk only. Self-reported PA, exercise motivation, quality of life, fatigue and clinical and demographic characteristics were obtained from n = 148 (intervention: n = 69; control: n = 79) patients immediately prior to the seminar, and at follow-up ≈ 100 days later. Data were analysed using ANCOVA models and χ2 tests. Fourteen semi-structured interviews with intervention participants, which explored how the intervention was experienced, were analysed using a grounded theory-style approach.
Results
The intervention had no significant effect on quantitatively self-reported PA (p = 0.4). However, the intervention was statistically and clinically beneficial for fatigue (p = 0.04) and quality of life (p = 0.01). Qualitative analysis showed that the intervention was beneficial to psychological wellbeing and some participants had increased intention to engage in PA as a result of the intervention.
Conclusions
A brief one-off PA-based presentation for men with PCa, delivered by a former patient alongside cancer exercise specialist advice, may result in clinically significant benefits to quality of life and may influence PA intention in certain individuals.
Electronic supplementary material
The online version of this article (10.1007/s00520-020-05455-4) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
Collapse