Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2020 May:92:105998.
doi: 10.1016/j.cct.2020.105998. Epub 2020 Apr 11.

Improving health engagement and lifestyle management for breast cancer survivors with diabetes

Rebecca A Shelby  1 , Caroline S Dorfman  2 , Sarah S Arthur  2 , Hayden B Bosworth  3 , Leonor Corsino  4 , Linda Sutton  5 , Lynda Owen  5 , Alaattin Erkanli  6 , Francis Keefe  2 , Cheyenne Corbett  7 , Gretchen Kimmick  8
Affiliations

Improving health engagement and lifestyle management for breast cancer survivors with diabetes

Rebecca A Shelby et al. Contemp Clin Trials. 2020 May.

Abstract

Breast cancer survivors with type 2 diabetes are at high risk for cancer recurrence, serious health complications, more severe symptoms, psychological distress, and premature death relative to breast cancer survivors without diabetes. Maintaining glycemic control is critical for decreasing symptoms and preventing serious health problems. Many breast cancer survivors with type 2 diabetes have difficulty maintaining diabetes self-management behaviors and achieving glycemic control. Both cancer and diabetes-related symptoms (e.g., physical symptoms and psychological distress) are often barriers to engaging in diabetes self-management strategies. This study evaluates a novel diabetes coping skills training (DCST) intervention for improving breast cancer survivors' abilities to manage symptoms and adhere to recommended diabetes self-management behaviors. The telephone-based DCST protocol integrates three key theory-based strategies: coping skills training for managing symptoms, adherence skills training, and healthy lifestyle skills training. A randomized clinical trial will test the DCST intervention plus diabetes education by comparing it to diabetes education alone. Symptoms, distress, diabetes self-management behaviors, and self-efficacy will be assessed at baseline and 3, 6, and 12 months. Glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c) will be assessed at baseline, 6, and 12 months. This study addresses a critical gap in the care of breast cancer survivors by evaluating a novel behavioral intervention to improve the management of symptoms, adherence, and glycemic control in breast cancer survivors with type 2 diabetes. Special considerations for this medically underserved population are also provided. The findings of this study could lead to significant improvements in clinical care and beneficial outcomes for breast cancer survivors. Trials registration: ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT02970344, registered 11/22/2016.

Keywords: Breast Cancer; Coping skills; Diabetes; Self-management.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of Competing Interest The authors have no actual or potential conflicts of interest to disclose.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Study Design
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Srokowski TP, Fang S, Hortobagyi GN, Giordano SH, Impact of diabetes mellitus on complications and outcomes of adjuvant chemotherapy in older patients with breast cancer, Journal of clinical oncology : official journal of the American Society of Clinical Oncology 27(13) (2009) 2170–6. - PMC - PubMed
    1. American Cancer Society, Cancer Facts & Figures 2019, in: A.C. Society; (Ed.) Atlanta, 2019.
    1. Cowie CC, Rust KF, Ford ES, Eberhardt MS, Byrd-Holt DD, Li C, Williams DE, Gregg EW, Bainbridge KE, Saydah SH, Geiss LS, Full accounting of diabetes and pre-diabetes in the U.S. population in 1988–1994 and 2005–2006, Diabetes care 32(2) (2009) 287–94. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Erickson K, Patterson RE, Flatt SW, Natarajan L, Parker BA, Heath DD, Laughlin GA, Saquib N, Rock CL, Pierce JP, Clinically defined type 2 diabetes mellitus and prognosis in early-stage breast cancer, Journal of clinical oncology : official journal of the American Society of Clinical Oncology 29(1) (2011) 54–60. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Peairs KS, Barone BB, Snyder CF, Yeh HC, Stein KB, Derr RL, Brancati FL, Wolff AC, Diabetes mellitus and breast cancer outcomes: a systematic review and meta-analysis, Journal of clinical oncology : official journal of the American Society of Clinical Oncology 29(1) (2011) 40–6. - PMC - PubMed

Publication types

Substances

Associated data