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Intensity- and domain-specific physical activity levels between cancer survivors and non-cancer diagnosis individuals: a propensity score matching analysis

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Abstract

Purpose

To examine intensity- and domain-specific physical activity (PA) levels between Korean cancer survivors compared with non-cancer individuals.

Methods

We used data from the 2014–2016 Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHNES) to compare PA levels between 639 cancer survivors and 15,352 non-cancer individuals. Using the 1:5 propensity score matching analysis by sex, age, body mass index (BMI), and education level, 3195 non-cancer individuals were selected. Global Physical Activity Questionnaire (GPAQ) was used to assess PA levels.

Results

Cancer survivors were more likely to participate in a leisure-time PA (64.5 ± 157.9 vs. 51.8 ± 145.3 min/week, p < 0.002) compared with non-cancer individuals, while no difference was observed between groups in work and transportation. Cancer survivors undergoing treatment participated in more leisure-time PA (80.9 ± 169.2 vs. 56.6 ± 151.8 min/week, p < 0.02) compared with cancer survivors who completed cancer treatment. However, we found no significant difference in vigorous-intensity PA (18.8 ± 113.9 vs. 20.5 ± 156.1 min/week, p = 0.56) and moderate-intensity PA (186.2 ± 313.1 vs. 203.1 ± 355.3 min/week, p = 0.17) levels between cancer survivors and non-cancer individuals.

Conclusions

This study showed that cancer survivors were more participated in leisure-time PA compared with age, gender, BMI, and education levels matched non-cancer individuals.

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Acknowledgments

The authors fully acknowledge that the data in this study is acquired from the Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES) conducted by the Korean Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) between 2014 to 2016.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Sport Industry Studies, Exercise Medicine and Rehabilitation Laboratory, Yonsei University, Seoul, Republic of Korea

    Jeongmin Lee, Jihee Min & Justin Y. Jeon

  2. Department of Nutrition, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA

    Dong Hoon Lee

  3. Behavioral Medicine Lab Faculty of Kinesiology, Sport, and Recreation, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada

    Dong-Woo Kang

  4. Exercise Medicine Center for Diabetes and Cancer Patients, ICONS, Yonsei University, Seoul, Republic of Korea

    Justin Y. Jeon

  5. Cancer Prevention Center, Yonsei Cancer Center, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea

    Justin Y. Jeon

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  1. Jeongmin Lee
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Correspondence to Justin Y. Jeon.

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This survey was approved by the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Institutional Review Board, and written informed consent was obtained from all participants.

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The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.

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Lee, J., Min, J., Lee, D.H. et al. Intensity- and domain-specific physical activity levels between cancer survivors and non-cancer diagnosis individuals: a propensity score matching analysis. Support Care Cancer 29, 661–668 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-020-05514-w

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