Obesity Status on associations between cancer-related beliefs and health behaviors in cancer survivors: Implications for patient-clinician communication.
Annie W Lin, Sara H Marchese, Laura E Finch and 3 others
PMID 33558109WHAT IT FOUND
In 513 cancer survivors, cancer-risk beliefs mostly did not track health behaviors; greater confidence managing health was linked to less sitting.
Among those with overweight or obesity, some beliefs were linked to activity and menu calorie choices.
Key findings
01In the overall cancer survivor sample, poorer self-efficacy for managing health was associated with longer weekly sitting time, but cancer risk beliefs were not associated with dining, sitting, or physical activity.
02Among cancer survivors with overweight or obesity, feeling overwhelmed by cancer prevention recommendations was associated with fewer days of moderate activity, and believing exercise had a lot of influence on cancer development was associated with more weekly moderate activity minutes.
03Among cancer survivors with overweight or obesity, believing that having a BMI in the overweight or obese range influenced cancer odds was associated with using menu calorie information to order fewer calories.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The survey was cross-sectional, so it cannot show that beliefs or self-efficacy caused healthier behaviors or that a cancer diagnosis changed them. Health behaviors were self-reported, and cancer risk beliefs were measured with single items, which can introduce bias and increase the chance of false-positive findings. The survey did not define healthy diet, so participants may have interpreted diet questions differently. Dining out was used as a proxy for healthy eating, but it does not capture overall diet quality. Subgroup analyses among survivors with overweight or obesity and by cancer type were exploratory; some interaction differences were found, but the associations within each cancer group were not statistically significant, and the authors note limited sample size.
Declared interests
No conflict-of-interest declaration appears in the supplied article text. The supplied publication types indicate extramural National Institutes of Health research support.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that telling cancer survivors that exercise or obesity affects cancer risk will make them change behavior. The study was cross-sectional and reported associations, not a tested counseling intervention.