Exercise referral for post-surgery breast cancer patients
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Exercise referral to fitness centre or cardiac rehabilitation among post-surgery breast cancer patients. Pilot single-arm trial with embedded process evaluation (EFFECT)
IRAS ID
180839
Contact name
Gill Hubbard
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Stirling
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 0 months, 1 days
Research summary
Background
More than three-quarters of the 50,000 people diagnosed with breast cancer per annum survive for at least ten years. Factors related to improving outcomes in breast cancer survivors (BCS) are therefore of public health significance. There is strong evidence for physical activity (PA). A meta-analysis of 16 prospective studies found that engaging in the approximate equivalent of 150min of at least moderate PA per week after cancer diagnosis was associated with a 24% reduced risk of total mortality among BCS. Furthermore, five reviews show that PA interventions can address physiologic and psychosocial effects of cancer and associated treatments. Yet, up to two-thirds of women decrease PA post-diagnosis and 46.2% do not engage in PA ≥150 min/week. A major concern therefore is that PA interventions are rarely offered to BCS.
Aims
Our ultimate aim is to conduct a multi-centred RCT of whether exercise referral to cardiac rehabilitation or fitness centres can achieve increases of ≥150 min/week of PA compared to usual care. Given uncertainties surrounding such an RCT, we now propose to conduct pilot work.Techniques/methodology
The study design is a single-arm pilot trial with an embedded process evaluation. We will test the feasibility and acceptability of exercise referral to existing physical activity interventions validated in non-cancer NHS populations i.e. fitness centre and cardiac rehabilitation. We will assess if the intervention is feasible to deliver as part of routine cancer care and acceptable to BCS and clinicians and estimate eligibility, consent, recruitment, retention and completion rates for proposed outcome measures and provide data for sample size calculations for a future multi-centred effectiveness trial.REC name
North of Scotland Research Ethics Committee 1
REC reference
15/NS/0036
Date of REC Opinion
8 May 2015
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion