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Exercise Information for Women With Cancer

Not Applicable
Completed
Conditions
Cancer
Registration Number
NCT03120819
Lead Sponsor
Oregon Health and Science University
Brief Summary

Fatigue is a troublesome symptom for breast cancer patients, which might be mitigated with exercise. Cancer patients often prefer their oncologist recommend an exercise program, yet a recommendation alone may not be enough to change behavior. Our study will determine whether adding an exercise DVD to an oncologist's recommendation to exercise led to better outcomes than a recommendation alone.

Detailed Description

Purpose: Controlled, intervention trials suggest that exercise may be a useful strategy to manage symptoms and side effects associated with cancer treatment. However, practical programs that facilitate exercise engagement among cancer patients are few and have been insufficiently studied. Medical providers may be best suited to deliver exercise information because of their frequent patient contact and the trust that patients place in their advice; however, unless sufficient resources are supplied in conjunction with verbal advice, patients may be less likely to successfully follow their physician's advice. The addition of an easy-to-follow, cancer specific exercise instructional video (DVD) to a provider's recommendation to exercise may provide patients with the motivation and ability to increase physical activity. We propose a feasibility study that will 1) determine acceptance and use of a provider-disseminated instructional home-exercise DVD among female cancer patients treated at OHSU and 2) determine if this cancer specific home-based DVD exercise program leads to greater decreases in fatigue, increases in exercise motivation and in physical activity compared to a standard exercise recommendation only among breast cancer patients treated at OHSU (N=100).

Methods: Medical providers who see female cancer patients during routine clinical visits will be approached to participate in the study. Willing providers will be enlisted to consent patients to receive a brief conversation (2-3 minutes) about the importance of exercise in their cancer care and then ask whether or not patients are willing to receive more information about the study from study staff. Providers will inform study staff about consenting participants who will then be randomized to one of two groups in the order that they enrolled. Study staff will then contact participants by phone to further explain the study and confirm eligibility then ask questions about their treatment, symptoms, and physical activity history. Based on their randomly assigned group, participants will receive either a control packet of standard exercise information based on guidelines from the American Cancer Society or standard exercise information plus a cancer specific home-based exercise DVD program. Fatigue, motivation for exercise, physical activity and use / acceptability of exercise information (+/- DVD) will be reassessed at 4 and 8 weeks following enrollment.

Recruitment & Eligibility

Status
COMPLETED
Sex
Female
Target Recruitment
95
Inclusion Criteria
  • Diagnosis of breast cancer
  • Scheduled for a clinical appointment with a surgical, radiation or medical oncologist at Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU)
  • Capable of answering survey questions by phone
Exclusion Criteria
  • Not medically cleared to participate in low-intensity exercise

Study & Design

Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Study Design
PARALLEL
Primary Outcome Measures
NameTimeMethod
Change in Patient-Reported Fatiguebaseline, 4 and 8 weeks

Fatigue will be measured with the Brief Profile of Mood States Fatigue subscale

Secondary Outcome Measures
NameTimeMethod
Change in self-efficacy for exercisebaseline, 4 and 8 weeks

Self-efficacy for exercise will be measured using the Self-Efficacy Assessment scale modified for exercise

Change in exercise readiness assessed by the Stage of Change for exercisebaseline, 4 and 8 weeks

We will measure a person's readiness to engage in recommended levels of physical activity using the Stage of Change for behavior change modified for exercise

Change in self-report physical activity measured with the International Physical Activity QuestionnaireBaseline, 4 and 8 weeks

We will measure changes in the reported time spent in physical activities per week

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

OHSU School of Nursing

🇺🇸

Portland, Oregon, United States

OHSU School of Nursing
🇺🇸Portland, Oregon, United States

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