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Hispanic ethnicity as a moderator of the effects of aerobic and resistance exercise on physical fitness and quality-of-life in breast cancer survivors.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Exercise can profoundly affect physical fitness and quality of life in breast cancer survivors; however, few studies have focused on minorities. This secondary analysis examines Hispanic ethnicity as a moderator of the effects of a 16-week aerobic and resistance exercise intervention on physical fitness and quality of life in breast cancer survivors.

Methods

Eligible breast cancer survivors (n = 100) were randomized to exercise (n = 50) or usual care (n = 50). The exercise intervention consisted of supervised moderate-vigorous aerobic and resistance exercise thrice weekly for 16 weeks. Physical fitness and quality of life were measured at baseline, post-intervention, and 28-week follow-up (exercise only). Linear mixed-models adjusted for baseline value of the outcome, age, disease stage, adjuvant treatment, and recent physical activity were used to evaluate effect modification by ethnicity.

Results

The study sample included 57% Hispanic and 43% non-Hispanic breast cancer survivors. Hispanic breast cancer survivors were younger, less fit, and diagnosed with more advanced cancers compared with non-Hispanic breast cancer survivors (p < 0.001). Ethnicity was found to moderate the effects of exercise training on all physical fitness and quality-of-life measures including VO_2max (8.4 mL/kg/min; 95% confidence interval (95% CI) 3.2 to 13.4), physical well-being (12.3; 95% CI 4.2 to 18.4), and emotional well-being (11.4; 95% CI 5.9 to 15.5). In all cases, Hispanics experienced larger benefits than non-Hispanics.

Conclusions

Hispanic breast cancer survivors have poorer cardiorespiratory fitness, muscle strength, and quality-of-life and therefore may derive larger benefits from exercise than non-Hispanic breast cancer survivors. Clinical exercise interventions may attenuate existing health disparities among minority breast cancer survivors.

Implication of cancer survivors

Here we report psychosocial and fitness-related disparities among Hispanic breast cancer survivors when compared with their non-Hispanic counterparts. Our exercise intervention highlights the importance of exercise for minority cancer survivors and the need for distinct, culturally tailored exercise intervention approaches to reduce psychosocial and fitness-related disparities among this understudied population of cancer survivors.

SUBMITTER: Dieli-Conwright CM

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7854763 | biostudies-literature |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Project description:BACKGROUND:Exercise is an effective strategy to improve quality of life and physical fitness in breast cancer survivors; however, few studies have focused on the early survivorship period, minorities, physically inactive and obese women, or tested a combined exercise program and measured bone health. Here, we report the effects of a 16-week aerobic and resistance exercise intervention on patient-reported outcomes, physical fitness, and bone health in ethnically diverse, physically inactive, overweight or obese breast cancer survivors. METHODS:One hundred breast cancer survivors within 6 months of completing adjuvant treatment were assessed at baseline, post-intervention, and 3-month follow-up (exercise group only) for physical fitness, bone mineral density, serum concentrations of bone biomarkers, and quality of life. The exercise intervention consisted of moderate-vigorous (65-85% heart rate maximum) aerobic and resistance exercise thrice weekly for 16 weeks. Differences in mean changes for outcomes were evaluated using mixed-model repeated measure analysis. RESULTS:At post-intervention, the exercise group was superior to usual care for quality of life (between group difference: 14.7, 95% CI: 18.2, 9.7; p?<?0.001), fatigue (p?<?0.001), depression (p?<?0.001), estimated VO2max (p?<?0.001), muscular strength (p?<?0.001), osteocalcin (p?=?0.01), and BSAP (p?=?0.001). At 3-month follow-up, all patient-reported outcomes and physical fitness variables remained significantly improved compared to baseline in the exercise group (p?<?0.01). CONCLUSIONS:A 16-week combined aerobic and resistance exercise program designed to address metabolic syndrome in ethnically-diverse overweight or obese breast cancer survivors also significantly improved quality of life and physical fitness. Our findings further support the inclusion of supervised clinical exercise programs into breast cancer treatment and care. TRIAL REGISTRATION:This trial is registered on ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT01140282 as of June 9, 2010.

Project description:BackgroundBreast cancer is the most common cancer worldwide, and despite remarkable progress in its treatment, the survivors' quality of life is hampered by treatment-related side effects that impair psychosocial and physiological outcomes. Several studies have established the benefits of physical exercise in breast cancer survivors in recent years. Physical exercise reduces the impact of treatment-related adverse events to promote a better quality of life and functional outcomes.AimThis study aims to provide an overview of systematic reviews and meta-analyses on the effect of physical exercise on the health-related quality of life, cardiorespiratory fitness, muscle strength, and body composition of breast cancer survivors.MethodsPubMed and Cochrane databases were searched for systematic reviews and meta-analyses from January 2010 to October 2022. The main focus was ascertaining the effectiveness of physical exercise in breast cancer survivors undergoing curative treatment (surgery and/or radiotherapy and/or chemotherapy). Two reviewers independently screened the literature, extracted the data, and assessed the risk of bias in the included studies.ResultsA total of 101 studies were identified, and 12 were yielded for final analysis. The eligible studies included nine systematic reviews/meta-analyses, one meta-analysis/meta-regression, and two systematic reviews. The number of randomised clinical trials included in each review varied from 11 to 63, and the number of participants was from 214 to 5761. A positive and significant effect of different physical exercise interventions on health-related quality of life was reported in 83.3% (10 studies) of the eligible studies. Physical exercise also improved cardiorespiratory fitness (3 studies; 25%) and showed to be effective in reducing body weight (3 studies; 25%) and waist circumference (4 studies; 33.3%).ConclusionsOur results suggest that physical exercise is an effective strategy that positively affects breast cancer survivors' quality of life, cardiorespiratory fitness, and body composition. Healthcare professionals should foster the adoption of physical exercise interventions to achieve better health outcomes following breast cancer treatments.Systematic review registrationhttps://inplasy.com/inplasy-2022-11-0053/, identifier INPLASY2022110053.