title: Perceived health, self-esteem, health habits, and perceived benefits and barriers to exercise in women who have and who have not experienced stage I breast cancer.
abstract: As more women survive the experience of breast cancer, it is essential to discover the impact it has on a woman's life. The purpose of this study was to determine differences in perceived health, self-esteem, health habits, and perceived benefits and barriers to exercise in women who have and who have not experienced stage I breast cancer and its treatment. A random sample of 55 women who have experienced stage I breast cancer and have not received adjuvant therapy was selected and matched to a cohort of women in the community who had not experienced cancer. No significant differences were found in perceived health, self-esteem, and health habits between women who had experienced breast cancer and the matched cohorts. There was a significant difference in both perceived benefits and barriers to exercise between groups (t = 2.4, df = 106, p = 0.18), with the matched cohorts scoring higher on perceived benefits and barriers to exercise.
authors.affiliation: University of Colorado Health Sciences Center School of Nursing, Denver.
authors.forename: J P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Nelson
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000601:surgery; D015400:Clinical Nursing Research; D015331:Cohort Studies; D015444:Exercise; D005260:Female; D006262:Health; D015438:Health Behavior; D006801:Humans; D008019:Life Style; D015411:Mastectomy, Modified Radical / Q000523:psychology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D012649:Self Concept