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Sport participation in colorectal cancer survivors: an unexplored approach to promoting physical activity

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Abstract

Purpose

Physical activity improves health outcomes in colorectal cancer (CRC) survivors, but participation rates are low. One understudied strategy for increasing physical activity in CRC survivors may be sport participation. Here, we report the sport participation rate, sport preferences, and correlates of sport participation among CRC survivors.

Methods

A provincial, population-based mailed survey of CRC survivors in Alberta, Canada was performed and included measures of sport participation, sport preferences, sport benefits and barriers, and medical and demographic variables.

Results

A total of 600 CRC survivors completed the survey (34 % response rate). Almost a quarter (23.0 %) of CRC survivors reported participating in a sport in the past month, with the most common sport being golf (58.7 %). In multivariate regression analysis, 33.0 % (p = 0.001) of the variance in sport participation was explained by being male (β = 0.12; p = 0.006), in better general health (β = 0.12; p = 0.006), and ≥ 5 years post-diagnosis (β = 0.09; p = 0.031). The most common barriers to sport participation were time, age/agility, and no interest/dislike of sports. The most common anticipated benefits of sport participation were improved physical fitness, meeting people, and improved health. Over half (57.2 %) of CRC survivors were possibly interested in learning about sport participation opportunities.

Conclusions

Promotion of sport participation may be a potentially fruitful strategy for increasing physical activity in CRC survivors.

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Acknowledgements

This study was funded by a Canadian Institutes of Health Research Seed Grant in Physical Activity, Sport, and Health. Erin McGowan is supported by a postdoctoral fellowship from the Canadian Cancer Society Research Institute (grant no. 700019). Chris Blanchard and Kerry Courneya are supported by the Canada Research Chairs Program. Christine Friedenreich is supported by a Health Senior Scholar Award from the Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research. We would like to thank Carol Russell and Lorraine Cormier from the Alberta Cancer Registry for their assistance in conducting this study.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that there are no conflicts of interest in this study. The authors of the study have full control of all data and agree to allow the journal to review their data if requested.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Physical Education and Recreation, University of Alberta, E-488 Van Vliet Center, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, T6G 2H9

    Erin L. McGowan, Amy E. Speed-Andrews & Kerry S. Courneya

  2. School of Exercise Science, Physical and Health Education, University of Victoria, P.O. Box 3010 STN CSC, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, V8W 3N4

    Ryan E. Rhodes

  3. Department of Medicine, Centre for Clinical Research, Dalhousie University, Room 205, 5790 University Avenue, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, B3H 1V7

    Chris M. Blanchard

  4. Faculty of Kinesiology, University of Calgary, 2500 University Drive NW, Calgary, Alberta, Canada, T2N 1N4

    S. Nicole Culos-Reed

  5. Alberta Health Services—Cancer Care, 1331 29 Street NW, Calgary, Alberta, Canada, T2N 4N2

    Christine M. Friedenreich

Authors
  1. Erin L. McGowan
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  2. Amy E. Speed-Andrews
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  3. Ryan E. Rhodes
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  5. S. Nicole Culos-Reed
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  6. Christine M. Friedenreich
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  7. Kerry S. Courneya
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Correspondence to Kerry S. Courneya.

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McGowan, E.L., Speed-Andrews, A.E., Rhodes, R.E. et al. Sport participation in colorectal cancer survivors: an unexplored approach to promoting physical activity. Support Care Cancer 21, 139–147 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-012-1501-0

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