Physical Activity and Survival in Women With Advanced Breast Cancer.
Oxana Palesh, Charles Kamen, Susan Sharp and 4 others
PMID 28727578WHAT IT FOUND
Women with advanced breast cancer who did one hour of moderate activity daily had a 23% lower risk of death.
This held after adjusting for age, treatment, and depression. Nurses can encourage simple daily movement like walking or housework.
Key findings
01Engaging in one hour a day of moderate activity reduced the hazard of subsequent mortality by 23%.
02The association between physical activity and survival remained significant after controlling for prognostic factors including age, ER status, treatment, and depression.
03Most participants (75.7%) engaged in at least 30 minutes of moderate-intensity activity daily, with median survival of 33.1 months overall.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTsWhat it means for OTsWhat it means for SLPsWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
Physical activity was self-reported using the 7DPAR, which may be less accurate than objective measures like accelerometers. This is a secondary analysis of a trial designed for a different purpose, limiting the sample size to 103 and the ability to draw causal conclusions. The study could not rule out reverse causality: women with less aggressive disease or fewer symptoms may have been naturally more able to exercise, rather than exercise causing the survival benefit. Medical variables were self-reported and may differ from medical records. Survival rates for breast cancer have improved due to newer therapies since data collection began, so these findings may not fully reflect current clinical realities.
Declared interests
Research support from the N.I.H., Extramural. No other conflicts declared.
The easy way to misread this
Do not interpret this as proof that starting exercise will extend life. This is an observational analysis of baseline habits; it cannot exclude the possibility that women who survived longer were simply healthier at the start and thus able to move more.