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Examining sociodemographic and health-related characteristics as moderators of an mHealth intervention on physical activity outcomes in young adult cancer survivors

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Abstract

Purpose

This study explored whether sociodemographic and health-related characteristics moderated mHealth PA intervention effects on total and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) at 6 months, relative to a self-help condition among young adult cancer survivors (YACS).

Methods

We conducted exploratory secondary analyses of data from a randomized controlled trial among 280 YACS. All participants received digital tools; intervention participants also received lessons, adaptive goals, tailored feedback, text messages, and Facebook prompts. Potential moderators were assessed in baseline questionnaires. PA was measured at baseline and 6 months with accelerometers. Linear model repeated measures analyses examined within- and between-group PA changes stratified by levels of potential moderator variables.

Results

Over 6 months, the intervention produced MVPA increases that were  30 min/week compared with the self-help among participants who were males (28.1 vs. -7.7, p = .0243), identified with racial/ethnic minority groups (35.2 vs. -8.0, p = .0006), had baseline BMI of 25–30 (25.4 vs. -7.2, p = .0034), or stage III/IV cancer diagnosis (26.0 vs. -6.8, p = .0041). Intervention participants who were ages 26–35, college graduates, married/living with a partner, had a solid tumor, or no baseline comorbidities had modest MVPA increases over 6 months compared to the self-help (ps = .0163-.0492). Baseline characteristics did not moderate intervention effects on total PA.

Conclusions

The mHealth intervention was more effective than a self-help group at improving MVPA among subgroups of YACS defined by characteristics (sex, race, BMI, cancer stage) that may be useful for tailoring PA interventions.

Implications for cancer survivors

These potential moderators can guide future optimization of PA interventions for YACS.

ClinicalTrials.gov identifier

NCT03569605.

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Data availability

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

We are grateful for the valuable contributions of study team members, including Dr. Donald Rosenstein, Karen Hatley, Dr. Kristen Polzien, Dr. Lindsey Camp, Erin Coffman, Susanna Choi, Kayla Warechowski, and Miriam Chisholm. We thank Lauren Lux, Dr. Andrew Smitherman, Dr. Eliza Park, Dr. Allison Lazard, and community-based organizations that helped with study recruitment. We gratefully acknowledge the young adult cancer survivors who participated in the study.

Funding

This work was supported by the National Cancer Institute (R01CA204965 to CGV); the UNC Connected Health Applications & Interventions Core [funded through the UNC Nutrition Obesity Research Center (National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases-funded; P30DK056350) and the Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center (National Cancer Institute-funded; P30 CA016086)]; the UNC Health Registry (funded in part by the UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center’s University Cancer Research Fund; and the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (UL1TR002489, supporting REDCap and UNC Carolina Data Warehouse for Health).

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Authors

Contributions

Conceptualization: CGV, CMR, DFT; Data curation: DPH, BTN; Formal analysis: HHH, AMD, DPH, BTN; Funding acquisition: CGV, CMR, BMP, JGL, DFT; Investigation: CGV, MAD, BTN; Methodology: CGV, HHH, AMD, DPH, BMP, JGL, DFT; Project administration: CGV, MAD, BTN; Supervision: CGV; Validation: MAD, DPH, BTN; Visualization: CGV, HHH, AMD; Writing – original draft: CGV, HHH, AMD; Writing – review & editing: CGV, HHH, AMD, MAD, DPH, BTN, CMR, BMP, JGL, DFT.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Carmina G. Valle.

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All procedures were approved by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Oncology Protocol Review Committee (LCCC1707) and Institutional Review Board (#16-3409) and performed in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki Declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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The authors have no relevant financial or non-financial interests to disclose.

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Valle, C.G., Heiling, H.M., Deal, A.M. et al. Examining sociodemographic and health-related characteristics as moderators of an mHealth intervention on physical activity outcomes in young adult cancer survivors. J Cancer Surviv (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11764-024-01577-4

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