Oncology care providers’ awareness and practice related to physical activity promotion for breast cancer survivors and barriers and facilitators to such promotion: a nationwide cross-sectional web-based survey

Purpose A known barrier to getting breast cancer survivors (BCSs) to engage in habitual exercise is a lack of information on recommended physical activity levels provided to them by oncology care providers (OCPs). However, the actual situation in Japan remains unclear. This study sought to clarify OCPs’ awareness and practice related to Japan’s physical activity recommendation for BCSs and to ascertain barriers to routine information provision. Methods We conducted a web-based survey involving members of the Japanese Breast Cancer Society (JBCS) and the Japanese Association of Cancer Rehabilitation between Dec. 2018 and Feb. 2019. Results Of 10,830 members, 1,029 (9.5%) responded. Only 19.1% were aware of the details of the JBCS physical activity recommendation, and only 21.2% routinely provided physical activity information to BCSs. Factors related to being aware of the recommendation details were 1) availability of the guidelines, 2) experience reading relevant parts of the guidelines, and 3) involvement in multidisciplinary team case meetings. Barriers to routine information provision were 1) absence of perceived work responsibility, 2) underestimation of survivors’ needs, 3) lack of resources, 4) lack of self-efficacy about the recommendation, and 5) poor knowledge of the recommendation. Conclusions Only one fifth of the OCPs routinely provided physical activity information. Barriers to provision were poor awareness, self-efficacy, and attitudes and unavailable resources. The physical activity recommendation needs to be disseminated to all OCPs and an information delivery system needs to be established for BCSs to receive appropriate information and support to promote their engagement in habitual physical activity.

Higher Physical Activity of School Personnel Is Related to More Positive Attitudes towards Children’s Physical Activity at School

School personnel can struggle with meeting the daily physical activity recommendation; however, they are role models for students, and their attitudes towards physical activity can impact students’ physical activity habits. The aim was to assess school personnel’s physical activity and their attitudes regarding the importance of physical activity among students. The physical activity levels of 1030 school employees in Estonia were assessed using an accelerometer. Participants also responded to a questionnaire about physical activity habits, overall health, and attitudes about the importance of physical activity among students. About 92.6% of the participants met the World Health Organisation’s weekly physical activity recommendation. However, 69.1% of the accelerometer wearing time was spent being sedentary. Only 5.8% of the wearing time was spent in moderate to vigorous physical activity. More active school personnel believed their lead affects students’ attitudes towards physical activity (r = 0.072–0.156, p < 0.05) and being active at recess facilitates a peaceful learning environment in the classroom (r = 0.064–0.072, p < 0.05). Whereas more sedentary school personnel did not encourage students to be active at recess (r = −0.073, p < 0.05). More active school personnel had more positive attitudes towards physical activity, which demonstrates the importance of focusing on encouraging physical activity among school personnel as they can affect the behaviour of students.

Oncology Care Providers’ Awareness and Practice Related to Physical Activity Promotion for Breast Cancer Survivors and Barriers and Facilitators to Such Promotion: A Nationwide Cross-sectional Web-based Survey

Purpose Lack of physical activity information provided by OCPs is a known barrier to getting breast cancer survivors (BCSs) to engage in habitual exercise. However, the actual situation in Japan remains unclear. This study sought to clarify OCPs’ awareness and practice related to Japan’s physical activity recommendation for BCSs and to ascertain barriers to these.Methods We conducted a web-based survey involving members of the Japanese Breast Cancer Society (JBCS) or the Japanese Association of Cancer Rehabilitation between Dec. 2018 and Feb. 2019.Results Of 10,830 members, 1,029 (9.5%) responded. Only 19.1% were aware of the details of the JBCS physical activity recommendation, and only 21.2% routinely provided physical activity information to BCSs. Barriers to routine provision were 1) absence of perceived work responsibility, 2) underestimation of survivors’ needs, 3) lack of resources, 4) lack of self-efficacy about the recommendation, and 5) poor knowledge of the recommendation. Factors related to being aware of the recommendation details were 1) availability of the guidelines, 2) experience reading relevant parts of the guidelines, and 3) involvement in multidisciplinary team case meetings.Conclusions Only one-fifth of the OCPs routinely provided physical activity information. Barriers to provision were poor awareness, self-efficacy, and attitudes and resource unavailability. The physical activity recommendation needs to be disseminated to all OCPs and a delivery system needs to be established for BCSs to receive appropriate information and support to promote engagement in habitual physical activity.

Determinants of achieving the minimum clinically important difference for the Incremental Shuttle Walk Test in a cardiac rehabilitation population

The primary aim of this study was to identify the determinants of achieving the minimum clinically important difference (MCID) for the Incremental Shuttle Walk Test (ISWT) in the CR population. The secondary aim was to examine whether achieving MCID in ISWT at the end of the CR programme is associated with the likelihood of patients meeting the physical activity recommendation or whether it is associated with the patients' self-reported physical fitness (Dartmouth COOP tool) at the end of the CR programmme. Method Routine clinical data related to patients who undertook ISWT as a pre- and post-CR functional capacity assessment were taken from National Audit of Cardiac Rehabilitation (NACR) during the 2013 to 2016 and retrospectively analysed. A sub-analysis was conducted to address the secondary aim. Logistic regression approaches, taking account of potential confounders were constructed. Results For the main study, data from 9,786 patients (mean age of 63.9±10.7), 77.5% of whom were male, were analysed. Sixteen determinants for achieving the MCID for ISWT in CR patients were identified. A sub-analysis was also conducted on 7,950 to address the secondary aim. Patients who achieved the MCID were 30% more likely to meet the physical activity recommendation and 60% more likely to rate themselves positively on the self-reported physical fitness Dartmouth COOP scale. Funding Acknowledgement Type of funding source: None