Effects of a structured counselling-based intervention to improve physical activity behaviour of adolescents and young adult cancer survivors - the randomized phase II Motivate AYA - MAYA trial.
Jannike Salchow, Barbara Koch, Julia Mann and 11 others
PMID 33685232WHAT IT FOUND
Counselling did not increase the number of young cancer survivors meeting vigorous activity guidelines compared to usual care.
The trial stopped early and the control group was already very active, so the intervention was not shown to work.
Key findings
01The rate of participants achieving vigorous physical activity did not differ significantly between the counselling and control groups at 12 weeks.
02The intervention failed to double the rate of participants meeting the vigorous activity threshold, which was the primary goal.
03The trial was terminated early due to lack of funds and higher-than-expected baseline activity in the control group.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they found
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What it does not show
The trial was terminated early after including 89 participants instead of the planned larger sample, reducing statistical power. The control group was already highly active at baseline, making it difficult to detect further improvements. Physical activity was measured by self-report questionnaire, which tends to overreport activity levels compared to objective measures like accelerometers. Participants could not be blinded to their group allocation, which may have influenced their behaviour or reporting. The study was conducted at a single centre, which limits how well the results apply to other populations.
Declared interests
The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest and received no financial support for the research.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that counselling is ineffective for all survivors. The trial was underpowered because it stopped early, and the control group was already very active, which masked potential benefits.