The effect of oncologists' exercise recommendations on the level of exercise and quality of life in survivors of breast and colorectal cancer: A randomized controlled trial

BACKGROUND The purpose of the current study was to examine the effect of an oncologist's exercise recommendation with and without an exercise motivation package on the amount of exercise participation and quality of life (QOL) in survivors of breast and colorectal cancer. METHODS A total of 162 survivors of early-stage breast and colorectal cancer who completed primary and adjuvant treatments were recruited for the current study. Participants were randomly assigned into 1 of 3 groups: 1) control (59 patients); 2) those receiving an oncologist's exercise recommendation (53 patients); and 3) those receiving an oncologist's exercise recommendation with an exercise motivation package (50 patients). At baseline and after 4 weeks, the level of exercise participation and QOL were assessed. RESULTS Of the 162 participants, 130 (80.2%) completed the trial. Intention-to-treat analysis indicated that participants who received an oncologist's exercise recommendation with an exercise motivation package significantly increased their level of exercise participation in terms of minutes (47.57 added minutes per week; 95% confidence interval, 9.62-85.52 minutes [P =.022] vs control) and in Metabolic Equivalent of Task (MET)-hours per week (4.14 additional MET-hours per week; 95% confidence interval, 1.70-6.58 MET-hours [P =.004] vs control) compared with the control group. Participants who received only their oncologist's exercise recommendation did not increase their exercise participation level. Further analysis demonstrated that role functioning was significantly improved among participants who received an oncologist's exercise recommendation with an exercise motivation package. CONCLUSIONS Providing an exercise motivation package in addition to the oncologist's exercise recommendation to increase the level of exercise among survivors of breast and colorectal cancer should be considered. Cancer 2015;121:2740-2748.