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Randomized Controlled Trial
. 2025 Oct;19(5):1611-1622.
doi: 10.1007/s11764-024-01577-4. Epub 2024 Apr 12.

Examining sociodemographic and health-related characteristics as moderators of an mHealth intervention on physical activity outcomes in young adult cancer survivors

Carmina G Valle  1   2 , Hillary M Heiling  3 , Allison M Deal  3 , Molly A Diamond  3 , Derek P Hales  4 , Brooke T Nezami  4 , Christine M Rini  5 , Bernardine M Pinto  6 , Jessica Gokee LaRose  7 , Deborah F Tate  4   3
Affiliations
Randomized Controlled Trial

Examining sociodemographic and health-related characteristics as moderators of an mHealth intervention on physical activity outcomes in young adult cancer survivors

Carmina G Valle et al. J Cancer Surviv. 2025 Oct.

Abstract

Purpose: This study explored whether sociodemographic and health-related characteristics moderated mHealth PA intervention effects on total and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) at 6 months, relative to a self-help condition among young adult cancer survivors (YACS).

Methods: We conducted exploratory secondary analyses of data from a randomized controlled trial among 280 YACS. All participants received digital tools; intervention participants also received lessons, adaptive goals, tailored feedback, text messages, and Facebook prompts. Potential moderators were assessed in baseline questionnaires. PA was measured at baseline and 6 months with accelerometers. Linear model repeated measures analyses examined within- and between-group PA changes stratified by levels of potential moderator variables.

Results: Over 6 months, the intervention produced MVPA increases that were ≥ 30 min/week compared with the self-help among participants who were males (28.1 vs. -7.7, p = .0243), identified with racial/ethnic minority groups (35.2 vs. -8.0, p = .0006), had baseline BMI of 25-30 (25.4 vs. -7.2, p = .0034), or stage III/IV cancer diagnosis (26.0 vs. -6.8, p = .0041). Intervention participants who were ages 26-35, college graduates, married/living with a partner, had a solid tumor, or no baseline comorbidities had modest MVPA increases over 6 months compared to the self-help (ps = .0163-.0492). Baseline characteristics did not moderate intervention effects on total PA.

Conclusions: The mHealth intervention was more effective than a self-help group at improving MVPA among subgroups of YACS defined by characteristics (sex, race, BMI, cancer stage) that may be useful for tailoring PA interventions.

Implications for cancer survivors: These potential moderators can guide future optimization of PA interventions for YACS.

Gov identifier: NCT03569605.

Keywords: Cancer survivors; Digital health; Interventions; Moderators; Physical activity; Young adults; mHealth.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declarations. Ethics approval: All procedures were approved by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Oncology Protocol Review Committee (LCCC1707) and Institutional Review Board (#16-3409) and performed in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki Declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. Informed consent: Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study. Competing interests: The authors have no relevant financial or non-financial interests to disclose.

References

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