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Muscle-strengthening and aerobic activities and mortality among 3+ year cancer survivors in the U.S.

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Abstract

Purpose

This study examined the association between adherence to American College of Sports Medicine and American Cancer Society guidelines on aerobic and muscle-strengthening activities and mortality risks among 3+ year cancer survivors in the U.S.

Methods

The observational study was based on 1999–2009 National Health Interview Survey Linked Mortality Files with follow-up through 2011. After applying exclusion criteria, there were 13,997 observations. The hazard ratios (HRs) for meeting recommendations on muscle-strengthening activities only, on aerobic activities only, and on both types of physical activity (i.e., adhering to complete guidelines) were calculated using a reference group of cancer survivors engaging in neither. Unadjusted and adjusted HRs of all-cause, cancer-specific, and cardiovascular disease-specific mortalities were estimated using Cox proportional hazards models.

Results

In all models, compared to the reference group, cancer survivors adhering to complete guidelines had significantly decreased all-cause, cancer-specific, and cardiovascular disease-specific mortalities (HRs ranged from 0.37 to 0.64, p’s < 0.05). There were no statistically significant differences between hazard rates of cancer survivors engaging in recommended levels of muscle-strengthening activities only and the reference group (HRs ranged from 0.76 to 0.94, p’s > 0.05). Wald test statistics suggested a significant dose–response relationship between levels of adherence to complete guidelines and cancer-specific mortality.

Conclusions

While muscle-strengthening activities by themselves do not appear to reduce mortality risks, such activities may provide added cancer-specific survival benefits to 3+ year cancer survivors who are already aerobically active.

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Abbreviations

ACSM:

American College of Sports Medicine

ACS:

American Cancer Society

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Jiann-Ping Hsu College of Public Health, Georgia Southern University, 501 Forest Drive, Hendricks Hall 2012, Statesboro, GA, 30460, USA

    Yelena N. Tarasenko

  2. Medical College of Georgia, Augusta University, Augusta, GA, USA

    Daniel F. Linder

  3. National Cancer Institute, Rockville, MD, USA

    Eric A. Miller

Authors
  1. Yelena N. Tarasenko
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  2. Daniel F. Linder
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  3. Eric A. Miller
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Yelena N. Tarasenko.

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Tarasenko, Y.N., Linder, D.F. & Miller, E.A. Muscle-strengthening and aerobic activities and mortality among 3+ year cancer survivors in the U.S.. Cancer Causes Control 29, 475–484 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10552-018-1017-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10552-018-1017-0

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