PERCEIVED EXERCISE BELIEFS AND BARRIERS AMONG BREAST CANCER SURVIVORS: A DESCRIPTIVE CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDY

Authors : Alper Tuğral, Yeşim Bakar, Murat Akyol

Pages : 208-216

Doi:10.34108/eujhs.1369955

View : 45 | Download : 53

Publication Date : 2024-07-25

Article Type : Research Paper

Abstract :Since the importance of the benefit of physical activity and exercise has been understood especially for cancer patients, efforts are taken to assess belief in exercise to adapt patients to a more physically active environment to create a sustainable health outcome. Thus, this study aimed to assess exercise beliefs and barriers by using a validated metric tool (Exercise Beliefs/Barriers Scale-EBBS) to evaluate beliefs in exercise in breast cancer survivors (BCS). In addition, it was also aimed to assess the relationships among EBBS, sociodemographic, and clinical variables of BCS. A total of 112 BCS were screened and invited to participate in this study. Clinical (type of surgery, adjuvant treatments, etc.), demographic data (age, medication use, etc.), and total sitting time were collected through a simple data form and 7th of the International Physical Activity Questionnaire-Short Form (IPAQ-SF), respectively. All patients were requested to fill out EBBS.96 BCS completed this study. Weak but significant correlations were found between time spent after surgery and perceived belief (r=. -273, p=0.009), and perceived barriers (r=-.239, p=0.022), respectively. Perceived barriers were also significantly correlated with age (r=-.212, p=0.042). No significant effects of the type of breast surgery and axillary procedure as well as medications (Tamoxifen) on perceived beliefs and barriers were found. Factors should be thoroughly investigated to provide a sustainable exercise behavior among BCS. Older BCS should be thoroughly monitored to gain regular exercise behavior. This study also highlighted the emerging need for sensitive, specific, and focused tools to assess beliefs in exercise among the cancer population.
Keywords : Meme kanseri, Egzersiz, Egzersiz engelleri, Egzersiz inanışları, Fiziksel inaktivite