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“It makes you feel so full of life” LiveWell, a feasibility study of a personalised lifestyle programme for colorectal cancer survivors

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Abstract

Goals

The acceptability and feasibility of a 3-month personalised lifestyle (diet, exercise and weight management) intervention in overweight adults who had completed curative treatment for colorectal cancer were assessed by qualitative interviews, quality-of-life questionnaires and subjective and objective measures of diet and activity.

Main results

Over a 4-month period, 28 of 37 (75%) patients met the inclusion criteria and 20 (71%) of the eligible patients agreed to participate in the study and 18 (90%) completed the 3-month study. Reported adherence related to tailored advice, personalised feedback and family support. Reported barriers included time following surgery, fatigue, having a stoma or chronic diarrhoea and conflicting advice from clinicians. A weight change of −1.2 (±4.4) kg was achieved overall and −4.1 (±3.7) kg in the ten who had lost weight.

Conclusions

Colorectal cancer survivors will participate in a lifestyle change initiative. Interventions should be personalised to suit abilities, provide feedback on personal goals and encourage social support. Intervention timing and attaining greater support from clinicians should be explored prior to the development of an efficacy trial.

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Funding

The study was funded by a research grant from The World Cancer Research Fund International (WCRF).

Conflicts of interest

None

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Public Health Nutrition Research, University of Dundee, Dundee, UK

    Annie S. Anderson & Stephen Caswell

  2. School of Nursing and Midwifery, University of Dundee, Dundee, UK

    Mary Wells

  3. Department of Surgery and Molecular Oncology, Ninewells Medical School, University of Dundee, Dundee, DD1 9SY, UK

    Robert J. C. Steele

  4. Institute for Social Marketing, University of Stirling and Open University, Stirling, FK9 4LA, UK

    Susan MacAskill

Authors
  1. Annie S. Anderson
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  2. Stephen Caswell
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  3. Mary Wells
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  4. Robert J. C. Steele
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  5. Susan MacAskill
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Annie S. Anderson.

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Anderson, A.S., Caswell, S., Wells, M. et al. “It makes you feel so full of life” LiveWell, a feasibility study of a personalised lifestyle programme for colorectal cancer survivors. Support Care Cancer 18, 409–415 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-009-0677-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-009-0677-4

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