Skip to main content

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

Supportive Care in Cancer volume 29, pages 661–668 (2021)Cite this article

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.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution.

Access options

Buy single article

Instant access to the full article PDF.

43,34 €

Price includes VAT (Finland)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

References

  1. Fitzmaurice C, Allen C, Barber RM, Barregard L, Bhutta ZA, Brenner H et al (2017) Global, regional, and national cancer incidence, mortality, years of life lost, years lived with disability, and disability-adjusted life-years for 32 cancer groups, 1990 to 2015: a systematic analysis for the global burden of disease study. JAMA Oncol 3(4):524–548

    PubMed  Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Jung K-W, Won Y-J, Oh C-M, Kong H-J, Lee DH, Lee KH (2017) Cancer statistics in Korea: incidence, mortality, survival, and prevalence in 2014. Cancer Res Treat 49(2):292–305

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Jung K-W, Won Y-J, Oh C-M, Kong H-J, Cho H, Lee DH, Lee KH (2015) Prediction of cancer incidence and mortality in Korea, 2015. Cancer Res Treat 47(2):142–148

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Health AIo (2012) Cancer survival and prevalence in Australia: period estimates from 1982 to 2010: AIHW

  5. Courneya KS (2003) Exercise in cancer survivors: an overview of research. Med Sci Sports Exerc 35(11):1846–1852

    PubMed  Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Jemal A, Siegel R, Ward E, Murray T, Xu J, Thun MJ (2007) Cancer statistics, 2007. CA Cancer J Clin 57(1):43–66

    PubMed  Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Aziz NM, Rowland JH, editors (2003) Trends and advances in cancer survivorship research: challenge and opportunity. Seminars in radiation oncology: Elsevier

  8. Speck RM, Courneya KS, Mâsse LC, Duval S, Schmitz KH (2010) An update of controlled physical activity trials in cancer survivors: a systematic review and meta-analysis. J Cancer Surviv 4(2):87–100

    PubMed  Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Lahart IM, Metsios GS, Nevill AM, Carmichael AR (2015) Physical activity, risk of death and recurrence in breast cancer survivors: a systematic review and meta-analysis of epidemiological studies. Acta Oncol 54(5):635–654

    PubMed  Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Je Y, Jeon JY, Giovannucci EL, Meyerhardt JA (2013) Association between physical activity and mortality in colorectal cancer: a meta-analysis of prospective cohort studies. Int J Cancer 133(8):1905–1913

    PubMed  CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Eyl RE, Xie K, Koch-Gallenkamp L, Brenner H, Arndt V (2018) Quality of life and physical activity in long-term (≥ 5 years post-diagnosis) colorectal cancer survivors-systematic review. Health Qual Life Outcomes 16(1):112

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Devin JL, Sax AT, Hughes GI, Jenkins DG, Aitken JF, Chambers SK, Dunn JC, Bolam KA, Skinner TL (2016) The influence of high-intensity compared with moderate-intensity exercise training on cardiorespiratory fitness and body composition in colorectal cancer survivors: a randomised controlled trial. J Cancer Surviv 10(3):467–479

    PubMed  Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Giallauria F, Vitelli A, Maresca L, De Magistris MS, Chiodini P, Mattiello A et al (2016) Exercise training improves cardiopulmonary and endothelial function in women with breast cancer: findings from the Diana-5 dietary intervention study. Intern Emerg Med 11(2):183–189

    PubMed  Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Vardar-Yagli N, Sener G, Saglam M, Calik-Kutukcu E, Arikan H, Inal-Ince D, Savci S, Altundag K, Kutluk T, Ozisik Y, Kaya EB (2015) Associations among physical activity, comorbidity, functional capacity, peripheral muscle strength and depression in breast cancer survivors. Asian Pac J Cancer Prev 16(2):585–589

    PubMed  Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Bellizzi KM, Rowland JH, Jeffery DD, McNeel T (2005) Health behaviors of cancer survivors: examining opportunities for cancer control intervention. J Clin Oncol 23(34):8884–8893

    PubMed  Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Kim RB, Phillips A, Herrick K, Helou M, Rafie C, Anscher MS, Mikkelsen RB, Ning Y (2013) Physical activity and sedentary behavior of cancer survivors and non-cancer individuals: results from a national survey. PLoS One 8(3):e57598

    PubMed  PubMed Central  CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

  17. LeMasters TJ, Madhavan SS, Sambamoorthi U, Kurian S (2014) Health behaviors among breast, prostate, and colorectal cancer survivors: a US population-based case-control study, with comparisons by cancer type and gender. J Cancer Surviv 8(3):336–348

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Coups EJ, Ostroff JS (2005) A population-based estimate of the prevalence of behavioral risk factors among adult cancer survivors and noncancer controls. Prev Med 40(6):702–711

    PubMed  Article  Google Scholar 

  19. Eakin EG, Youlden DR, Baade PD, Lawler SP, Reeves MM, Heyworth JS, Fritschi L (2007) Health behaviors of cancer survivors: data from an Australian population-based survey. Cancer Causes Control 18(8):881–894

    PubMed  Article  Google Scholar 

  20. Schootman M, Deshpande AD, Pruitt SL, Aft R, Jeffe DB (2010) National estimates of racial disparities in health status and behavioral risk factors among long-term cancer survivors and non-cancer controls. Cancer Causes Control 21(9):1387–1395

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Article  Google Scholar 

  21. Blanchard CM, Denniston MM, Baker F, Ainsworth SR, Courneya KS, Hann DM, Gesme DH, Reding D, Flynn T, Kennedy JS (2003) Do adults change their lifestyle behaviors after a cancer diagnosis? Am J Health Behav 27(3):246–256

    PubMed  Article  Google Scholar 

  22. Fairley TL, Hawk H, Pierre S (2010) Peer reviewed: health behaviors and quality of life of cancer survivors in Massachusetts, 2006: data use for comprehensive cancer control. Prev Chronic Dis 7(1):A09

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  23. Thraen-Borowski KM, Gennuso KP, Cadmus-Bertram L (2017) Accelerometer-derived physical activity and sedentary time by cancer type in the United States. PloS One 12(8):e0182554

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  24. Neil S, Gotay C, Campbell K (2014) Physical activity levels of cancer survivors in Canada: findings from the Canadian Community Health Survey. J Cancer Surviv 8(1):143–149

    PubMed  CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

  25. Moore SC, Lee I-M, Weiderpass E, Campbell PT, Sampson JN, Kitahara CM, Keadle SK, Arem H, Berrington de Gonzalez A, Hartge P, Adami HO, Blair CK, Borch KB, Boyd E, Check DP, Fournier A, Freedman ND, Gunter M, Johannson M, Khaw KT, Linet MS, Orsini N, Park Y, Riboli E, Robien K, Schairer C, Sesso H, Spriggs M, van Dusen R, Wolk A, Matthews CE, Patel AV (2016) Association of leisure-time physical activity with risk of 26 types of cancer in 1.44 million adults. JAMA Intern Med 176(6):816–825

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Article  Google Scholar 

  26. Organization WH (2010) Global recommendations on physical activity for health: World Health Organization

  27. Howley ET (2001) Type of activity: resistance, aerobic and leisure versus occupational physical activity. Med Sci Sports Exerc 33(6):S364–S3S9

    PubMed  CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

  28. Montoye HJ (1996) Measuring physical activity and energy expenditure. Human Kinetics:3–118

  29. Kweon S, Kim Y, Jang M-j, Kim Y, Kim K, Choi S et al (2014) Data resource profile: the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES). Int J Epidemiol 43(1):69–77

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Article  Google Scholar 

  30. Armstrong T, Bull F (2006) Development of the World Health Organization Global Physical Activity Questionnaire (GPAQ). J Public Health 14(2):66–70

    Article  Google Scholar 

  31. Lee J, Lee C, Min J, Kang D-W, Kim J-Y, Yang HI et al (2019) Development of the Korean Global Physical Activity Questionnaire: reliability and validity study. Glob Health Promot:1757975919854301

  32. Shin H-R, Won Y-J, Jung K-W, Kong H-J, Yim S-H, Lee J-K, Noh HI, Lee JK, Pisani P, Park JG, Members of the Regional Cancer Registries (2005) Nationwide cancer incidence in Korea, 1999~2001; first result using the national cancer incidence database. Cancer Res Treat 37(6):325–331

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Article  Google Scholar 

  33. Rosenbaum PR, Rubin DB (1984) Reducing bias in observational studies using subclassification on the propensity score. J Am Stat Assoc 79(387):516–524

    Article  Google Scholar 

  34. DuGoff EH, Schuler M, Stuart EA (2014) Generalizing observational study results: applying propensity score methods to complex surveys. Health Serv Res 49(1):284–303

    PubMed  Article  Google Scholar 

  35. Courneya KS, Karvinen KH, Campbell KL, Pearcey RG, Dundas G, Capstick V, Tonkin KS (2005) Associations among exercise, body weight, and quality of life in a population-based sample of endometrial cancer survivors. Gynecol Oncol 97(2):422–430

    PubMed  Article  Google Scholar 

  36. Chung JY, Lee DH, Park J-H, Lee MK, Kang D-W, Min J, Kim DI, Jeong DH, Kim NK, Meyerhardt JA, Jones LW, Jeon JY (2013) Patterns of physical activity participation across the cancer trajectory in colorectal cancer survivors. Support Care Cancer 21(6):1605–1612

    PubMed  Article  Google Scholar 

  37. Jones LW, Courneya KS, Vallance JK, Ladha AB, Mant MJ, Belch AR et al (2004) Association between exercise and quality of life in multiple myeloma cancer survivors. Support Care Cancer 12(11):780–788

    PubMed  Article  Google Scholar 

  38. McBride CM, Emmons KM, Lipkus IM (2003) Understanding the potential of teachable moments: the case of smoking cessation. Health Educ Res 18(2):156–170

    PubMed  CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

  39. Hackshaw-McGeagh LE, Penfold CM, Walsh E, Donovan JL, Hamdy FC, Neal DE et al (2015) Physical activity, alcohol consumption, BMI and smoking status before and after prostate cancer diagnosis in the ProtecT trial: opportunities for lifestyle modification. Int J Cancer 137(6):1509–1515

    PubMed  PubMed Central  CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

  40. Patterson RE, Neuhouser ML, Hedderson MM, Schwartz SM, Standish LJ, Bowen DJ (2003) Changes in diet, physical activity, and supplement use among adults diagnosed with cancer. J Am Diet Assoc 103(3):323–328

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  41. Demark-Wahnefried W, Peterson B, McBride C, Lipkus I, Clipp E (2000) Current health behaviors and readiness to pursue life-style changes among men and women diagnosed with early stage prostate and breast carcinomas. Cancer 88(3):674–684

    PubMed  CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

  42. De Groef A, Geraerts I, Demeyer H, Van der Gucht E, Dams L, de Kinkelder C et al (2018) Physical activity levels after treatment for breast cancer: two-year follow-up. Breast 40:23–28

    PubMed  Article  Google Scholar 

  43. Alfano CM, Smith AW, Irwin ML, Bowen DJ, Sorensen B, Reeve BB, Meeske KA, Bernstein L, Baumgartner KB, Ballard-Barbash R, Malone KE, McTiernan A (2007) Physical activity, long-term symptoms, and physical health-related quality of life among breast cancer survivors: a prospective analysis. J Cancer Surviv 1(2):116–128

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Article  Google Scholar 

  44. Reeve BB, Smith AW, Arora NK, Hays RD (2008) Reducing bias in cancer research: application of propensity score matching. Health Care Financ Rev 29(4):69–80

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  45. Troiano RP, Berrigan D, Dodd KW, Masse LC, Tilert T, McDowell M (2008) Physical activity in the United States measured by accelerometer. Med Sci Sports Exerc 40(1):181–188

    PubMed  Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

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

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

Authors
  1. Jeongmin Lee
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Jihee Min
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Dong Hoon Lee
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Dong-Woo Kang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Justin Y. Jeon
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Justin Y. Jeon.

Ethics declarations

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.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.

Additional information

Publisher’s note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Electronic supplementary material

ESM 1

(DOC 41 kb).

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

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

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-020-05514-w

Keywords

  • Cancer survivors
  • Physical activity
  • Leisure-time physical activity
  • Global Physical Activity Questionnaire