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Patterns of Physical Activity and the Role of Obesity and Comorbidities Among Long-term African American Breast Cancer Survivors

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Abstract

Purpose

Physical activity (PA) has many health benefits for cancer survivors, but little research has examined patterns and correlates in African American women, who have a higher burden of comorbidities and obesity. We examined PA types and patterns overall and by obesity and comorbidities among long-term (> 5 years) breast cancer survivors.

Methods

This cross-sectional study included 323 women who were previous participants of a case-only study in three southeastern states. Women completed a survivorship-focused questionnaire using validated measures to collect data on cancer treatment, PA (recreational, household, transportation) and other lifestyle factors, and comorbidities. Logistic regression models estimated adjusted ORs and 95% CIs for total PA (all three types, categorized as tertiles) and meeting PA guidelines (> 150 min/week of exercise).

Results

The mean age of women was 59.1 years (range 27.9–79.5). The most frequent PA types (≥ 1/month) included routine household cleaning (92.9%), shopping (94.7%), walking slowly (42.1%), and walking briskly (40.6%). Less than 40% met PA guidelines. Women with more total comorbidities, arthritis, and obesity had lower levels of total PA (minutes/week) and/or recreational PA. In adjusted models, BMI ≥ 35 kg/m2 was associated with reduced odds of total PA (OR = 0.33, 95% CI 0.12–0.88, highest tertile). Arthritis was associated with reduced odds of meeting PA guidelines (OR = 0.61, 95% CI 36–1.05).

Conclusions

Close to 60% of African American breast cancer survivors did not meet PA guidelines based on recreational PA participation. Household PA was an important source of PA. Comorbidities and obesity were associated with both reduced total PA and not meeting PA guidelines.

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Data Availability

The data used for this research study are not available to external researchers at this time.

Code Availability

Available upon request.

Abbreviations

AABL:

African American Breast Cancer Long-Term Survivorship Study

ACS:

American Cancer Society

BMI:

Body mass index

CI:

Confidence interval

ER:

Estrogen receptor status

IRB:

Institutional Review Boards

MI:

Myocardial infarction

OR:

Odds ratio

PA:

Physical activity

PR:

Progesterone receptor status

SERMs:

Selective-estrogen receptor modulators

T:

Tertiles

TNM:

Tumor node metastasis

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Acknowledgements

We thank participants of the AABL Survivorship Study. We thank Mary Kay Fadden for her guidance and help with the data collection and questionnaire methods. We thank Shantel Moore for collecting all telephone interview data and day-to-day recruitment and coordination of the AABL study.

Funding

The original parent case-only study was funded by National Cancer Institute grants U54CA163069, U54CA163072, and R03CA192214. Allison D. Banks was supported by U54CA163069. The AABL study was supported by grant K07CA184257 from the National Cancer Institute.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Public Health, College of Health Professions, Grand Valley State University, 500 Lafayette Street, Grand Rapids, MI, 49503, USA

    Katherine Busen, Heather Wallace & Sarah Nechuta

  2. School of Medicine, Meharry Medical College, 1005 Dr. DB Todd Jr. Blvd, Nashville, TN, 37208, USA

    Maureen Sanderson & Allison D. Banks

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  1. Katherine Busen
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Contributions

Sarah Nechuta, Katherine Busen, and Maureen Sanderson contributed to the study conception and design for this secondary data analysis. The analysis was performed by Katherine Busen and Sarah Nechuta. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Katherine Busen, and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Sarah Nechuta.

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Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval for the AABL study was obtained from Vanderbilt University Medical Center and Meharry Medical College, and all study participants provided written informed consent.

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Busen, K., Sanderson, M., Banks, A.D. et al. Patterns of Physical Activity and the Role of Obesity and Comorbidities Among Long-term African American Breast Cancer Survivors. J. Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities 10, 2261–2272 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40615-022-01405-4

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