Faculty Collaboration Database

Using ecological momentary assessment to understand associations between daily physical activity and symptoms in breast cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy. Support Care Cancer 2022 Aug;30(8):6613-6622

Date

05/01/2022

Pubmed ID

35488902

DOI

10.1007/s00520-022-07071-w

Scopus ID

2-s2.0-85129224077 (requires institutional sign-in at Scopus site)   2 Citations

Abstract

PURPOSE: Understanding real-time relationships between physical activity (PA) and symptoms during chemotherapy (CT) could have important implications for intervention. This study used ecological momentary assessment to examine the relationship between objective PA and symptoms during CT.

METHODS: Breast cancers patients (n = 67; M_age = 48.6 (SD = 10.3)) participated in data collection at three time points during CT: beginning, middle, and end. At each time point, participants answered four prompts assessing symptoms and wore an accelerometer for 10 days (3 days pre-CT, day of CT, and 6 days post-CT). Multilevel linear regression models examined the between- and within-person associations between moderate to vigorous (MVPA) and light-intensity physical activity (LPA) and same and next-day symptom ratings controlling for covariates.

RESULTS: On days when individuals engaged in more LPA or MVPA, separately, they reported improved affect, anxiety, fatigue, physical functioning (walking and activities of daily living), pain, and cognition that day (p < 0.001 for all). Findings were consistent for next-day symptom ratings with the exception that only previous day LPA was related to next-day fatigue and neither LPA nor MVPA were related to next-day cognition (p < 0.001 for all). No between-person effects were found.

CONCLUSIONS: Within person higher than usual PA on a given day, regardless of intensity, is associated with improved symptoms ratings on the current and next day.

IMPLICATIONS FOR CANCER SURVIVORS: Encouraging breast cancer patients undergoing CT to engage in daily PA could help manage CT-associated symptoms.

Author List

Whitaker M, Welch WA, Fanning J, Santa-Maria CA, Auster-Gussman LA, Solk P, Khan SA, Kulkarni SA, Gradishar W, Siddique J, Phillips SM

Author

Whitney A. Morelli PhD Assistant Professor in the Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation department at Medical College of Wisconsin

MESH terms used to index this publication - Major topics in bold

Activities of Daily Living
Breast Neoplasms
Ecological Momentary Assessment
Exercise
Fatigue
Female
Humans
Middle Aged