Experiencing health – Physical activity during adjuvant chemotherapy treatment for women with breast cancer
Section snippets
Background
Physical activity (PA) and an active lifestyle is an important part of promoting health and preventing illness (Wester et al., 2008). PA refers to all bodily movement as a result of the skeletal muscles which results in increased power consumption, and health-promoting PA can be defined as any PA that improves health and physical capacity without causing damage or hazards (Shephard and Balady, 1999, Public Health Institute S, 2008). PA is also an important part of the treatment of disease which
Design
The study used a qualitative design and data were collected in two steps: through in-depth individual and focus group interviews.
Ethical considerations
Written informed consent was obtained from all participants prior to their inclusion in the study and information was given both verbally and in writing about the aim and confidentiality of the study. All women participated voluntarily and were told that they were free to discontinue at any time without giving a reason. Ethical approval was obtained from the Regional
Results
The analysis resulted in a process of the experience of health during chemotherapy treatment covered by five categories: Solidarity to others and being good to oneself; Experiencing functional improvement and social support; Empowerment and motivation to focus on health; Barriers to adherence to PA during illness and treatment and Enabling health and independence – all of which contained several sub-categories. A core category was identified; PA a tool for maintenance and recovery of physical,
Discussion
Findings from this study showed that the women who participated in the PA intervention during adjuvant chemotherapy treatment experienced that PA made them feel healthy during treatment, which is described in the core category; PA a tool for maintaining and recovering physical, mental and social health. The core category is supported by five categories; Solidarity to others and being good to one self; Experiencing functional improvement and social support; Empowerment and motivation to focus on
Conclusion
The women in this study experienced that PA had a positive impact on their perceived health and that it was possible to exercise despite increasing symptom burden and side effects from treatment. By participating in PA the women experienced a reduced symptom burden and increased social support during the treatment period. The women were also inspired to change their lifestyle and PA was perceived as a tool that supported health processes and gave them the feeling of independence and getting
Conflicts of interest
No conflicts of interest exist.
Acknowledgment
The authors would like to express their gratitude to all the women who shared their experience with us for this study.
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Perceived barriers to and facilitators of being physically active during adjuvant cancer treatment
2016, Patient Education and CounselingCitation Excerpt :The results revealed that several factors influence patients’ ability to be physically active and exercise during treatment, most of these are barriers, some are facilitators. Common barriers mentioned were side effects from treatment and previous co-morbid conditions, which is a similar result seen in other interview studies conducted with breast cancer patients after exercise interventions [20,21]. Several barriers addressed by participants can be alleviated by PA [2,22,23].
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