Public release date: 4-Oct-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Brad Cardinal brad.cardinal@oregonstate.edu 541-737-2506 Oregon State University

CORVALLIS, Ore. More than 40 percent of older breast cancer survivors are insufficiently active after leaving a supervised program. But new research shows that those women who developed behavioral skills such as self-confidence and motivation during their program were far more likely to continue exercising on their own.

Regular exercise may reduce the risk of breast cancer recurrence and breast cancer-related mortality, experts say, making it crucial to effectively target breast cancer survivors who do not engage in regular physical activity for interventions.

Researchers at Oregon State University partnered with researchers at Oregon Health and Science University who had conducted a clinical trial to understand the benefits of a 12-month supervised exercise program in 69 older breast cancer survivors. The goal was to discover what factors influenced participants' ability to follow-through and continue exercising after the supervised program ended.

They found that breast cancer survivors with higher self-efficacy, or confidence to overcome exercise-related barriers (such as being too tired), were far more likely to continue exercising on their own. Those with higher self-efficacy scores were 10 percent more likely to be physically active six months after the intervention than those with lower scores.

The results of the study are published in the October issue of the journal Supportive Care in Cancer. It is the first study to assess predictors of behavior after a supervised exercise program in older breast cancer survivors.

Paul Loprinzi, lead author of the study, was a doctoral student at OSU when he did the research. Loprinzi, who is now a faculty member at Bellarmine University, said the good news is that behavioral skills to increase self-efficacy can be taught.

"We can teach breast cancer survivors how to enlist the support of others and how to identify exercise-related barriers, as well as provide proven strategies for them to overcome those barriers," Loprinzi said.

The researchers said everyone should meet physical activity guidelines and it can be even more crucial for breast cancer survivors. Loprinzi said exercise helps reduce common side effects of cancer treatment, such as fatigue, depression, decreased muscular strength and weight gain.

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Improving confidence keeps breast cancer survivors exercising