Incentives and barriers to exercise in women with a history of breast cancer

Abstract

Purpose/objectives: To develop and test an instrument to identity the most important incentives and barriers to exercise in women with breast cancer.

Design: Descriptive, quantitative, retrospective.

Setting: Ambulatory, national.

Sample: Phase I-11 Caucasian women, with a mean age of 43 years, who were treated for breast cancer within the past five years; Phase II-64 primarily Caucasian women, with a mean age of 47 years, who were treated for breast cancer within the past 10 years.

Methods: Content analysis of structured interviews, questionnaire.

Findings: The mean score on the decisional balance index (DBI), an overall exercise weight, was a low +19. The range of scores was from a low -26 to a moderate +57 on a scale from -72 to +72. The DBI accurately predicted 88% of the distribution of women who exercised regularly and those who did not. The most important incentives for exercise in a sample of women with a history of breast cancer were expectation of benefit and sense of responsibility. The most important barriers were lack of time and inertia.

Conclusions: Replication is needed with larger, more diverse samples, but the Incentive and Barriers to Exercise Scale (IBES) potentially can screen women with breast cancer with the greatest need for exercise interventions. An individualized plan to promote incentives and reduce barriers should be incorporated into interventions.

Implications for nursing practice: Nurses' proactive support for and education about exercise is needed.