Current health behaviors and readiness to pursue life-style changes among men and women diagnosed with early stage prostate and breast carcinomas
- PMID: 10649263
Current health behaviors and readiness to pursue life-style changes among men and women diagnosed with early stage prostate and breast carcinomas
Abstract
Background: Cancer survivors are at increased risk for developing secondary tumors, diabetes, osteoporosis, and cardiovascular disease, thus making them an important target population for health-related interventions. However, little is known regarding cancer survivors' behaviors and their interest in pursuing healthier diets, exercise, and smoking cessation.
Methods: A 65-item survey was mailed to 1667 patients diagnosed with early stage carcinoma of the breast or prostate that requested data regarding demographics, health behaviors, stage of readiness for smoking cessation, exercise, increased fruit and vegetable (F&V) consumption, and decreased fat intake, as well as interest in specific health programs and when, relative to diagnosis, these programs should be offered.
Results: Responses from 978 cancer survivors suggested that the overwhelming majority (85%) reported their health as good to excellent. The majority of respondents (55%) ate fewer than 5 daily servings of F&Vs, with prostate carcinoma patients reporting eating significantly fewer servings than patients with breast carcinoma (P < 0.001). In contrast, 69% of respondents reported adherence to a low fat diet, again with lower practice rates among prostate carcinoma patients than patients with breast carcinoma (P = 0.006). The majority of respondents (58%) reported routine exercise and 8% were current smokers. Significantly more breast carcinoma patients than prostate carcinoma patients were current smokers (P = 0.03). There was strong interest in health promotion programs across behaviors, and a fair amount of concordance between low fat dietary behaviors and exercise, as well as consumption of five daily servings of F&Vs. The majority of patients expressed a preference for programs that could be delivered via mailed brochure, with 57% of respondents indicating that programs should be initiated at the time of diagnosis or soon after (within 6 months).
Conclusions: The results of the current study suggest that although many cancer survivors already practice healthy life-style behaviors, there is a substantial proportion who do not. Interventions especially are needed to increase daily F&V intake; however, given the fair degree of clustering between dietary and exercise behaviors, multiple risk factor interventions also may be warranted. Among cancer survivors, receptivity is high for health promotion programs, especially those that can be delivered by mail and soon after diagnosis.
Copyright 2000 American Cancer Society.
Similar articles
-
Survivors of childhood cancer and their guardians.Cancer. 2005 May 15;103(10):2171-80. doi: 10.1002/cncr.21009. Cancer. 2005. PMID: 15812823
-
Cancer survivors' adherence to lifestyle behavior recommendations and associations with health-related quality of life: results from the American Cancer Society's SCS-II.J Clin Oncol. 2008 May 1;26(13):2198-204. doi: 10.1200/JCO.2007.14.6217. J Clin Oncol. 2008. PMID: 18445845
-
Main outcomes of the FRESH START trial: a sequentially tailored, diet and exercise mailed print intervention among breast and prostate cancer survivors.J Clin Oncol. 2007 Jul 1;25(19):2709-18. doi: 10.1200/JCO.2007.10.7094. J Clin Oncol. 2007. PMID: 17602076 Clinical Trial.
-
Can lifestyle modification increase survival in women diagnosed with breast cancer?J Nutr. 2002 Nov;132(11 Suppl):3504S-3507S. doi: 10.1093/jn/132.11.3504S. J Nutr. 2002. PMID: 12421877 Review.
-
Riding the crest of the teachable moment: promoting long-term health after the diagnosis of cancer.J Clin Oncol. 2005 Aug 20;23(24):5814-30. doi: 10.1200/JCO.2005.01.230. Epub 2005 Jul 25. J Clin Oncol. 2005. PMID: 16043830 Free PMC article. Review.
Cited by
-
Health behaviors in family members of patients completing cancer treatment.Oncol Nurs Forum. 2015 Jan;42(1):54-62. doi: 10.1188/15.ONF.54-62. Oncol Nurs Forum. 2015. PMID: 25542321 Free PMC article.
-
Preliminary Effectiveness Study of a Community-Based Wellness Coaching for Cancer Survivors Program.Am J Lifestyle Med. 2022 Mar 1;18(4):465-474. doi: 10.1177/15598276221076040. eCollection 2024 Jul-Aug. Am J Lifestyle Med. 2022. PMID: 39262887 Free PMC article. Review.
-
Prevalence of health behaviors among cancer survivors in the United States.J Cancer Surviv. 2024 Jun;18(3):1042-1050. doi: 10.1007/s11764-023-01347-8. Epub 2023 Mar 18. J Cancer Surviv. 2024. PMID: 36933085 Free PMC article.
-
Healthy Eating as a New Way of Life: A Qualitative Study of Successful Long-Term Diet Change.Inquiry. 2022 Jan-Dec;59:469580221090397. doi: 10.1177/00469580221090397. Inquiry. 2022. PMID: 35418258 Free PMC article.
-
Association between Fruit and Vegetable Intake and Physical Activity among Breast Cancer Survivors: A Longitudinal Study.Curr Oncol. 2021 Nov 30;28(6):5025-5034. doi: 10.3390/curroncol28060422. Curr Oncol. 2021. PMID: 34940061 Free PMC article.
Publication types
MeSH terms
Substances
Grants and funding
LinkOut - more resources
Medical
Research Materials