ASPO Abstracts
Effects of a DVD-delivered physical activity intervention on functional performance in cancer survivors
Category: Lifestyles Behavior, Energy Balance & Chemoprevention
Conference Year: 2021
Abstract Body:
Purpose: While site-based physical activity interventions successfully improve functional health during cancer
survivorship, they remain costly and limiting for many. We previously reported on the benefits of a DVD-delivered
physical activity program in healthy older adults that reached a 5,000 square mile radius. Here, we examine the
intervention effects among cancer survivors in the original sample. Methods: Low active, older adults who self-
reported a history of cancer (N=46) participated in a 6-month, home-based physical activity intervention.
Participants were randomized to either the DVD-delivered physical activity program focused on flexibility, toning,
and balance (FTB; n=22) or a healthy aging attentional control condition (n=24). Physical function was assessed
by the Short Physical Performance Battery (SPPB), and physical activity was assessed via accelerometry. All
measurements were taken at baseline, end of intervention, and at 12 and 24 months after baseline. Results:
Repeated measures linear mixed models indicated a significant group by time interaction for the SPPB total score
(β=-1.14, p=0.048), driven by improved function from baseline to six months in the FTB group compared with
worsened function in the control group. Similarly for the SPPB balance score, those in the FTB group had better
balance at six months (β =-0.56, p=0.041). Over the follow-up periods, similar trends emerged for the SPPB total
score; the group by time interaction from 0-12 months approached significance (β=-0.97, p=0.089) and was
significant from 0-24 months (β=-1.84, p=0.012). No significant interactions emerged for other outcomes at either
end of intervention or over the 12- and 24-month follow-up (ps>0.11). Conclusions: A DVD-delivered physical
activity intervention designed for healthy older adults was capable of eliciting and maintaining significant functional
improvements in the cancer survivors of the sample, with similar effects to the original trial. Importantly, the
difference in group scores at six months represents a clinically meaningful difference of over one full point on the
SPPB. These findings have important implications for the design and dissemination of an evidence-based physical
activity program for cancer survivors beyond the clinical setting.
Keywords: physical activity, cancer, survivorship, aging, technology