Physical activity and quality of life in head and neck cancer survivors.
OBJECTIVE
To examine the prevalence of exercise in head and neck cancer survivors and determine preliminary associations with quality of life (QoL), fatigue, and depression.


METHODS
Fifty-nine of 65 (91%) eligible head and neck cancer survivors recruited from an academic oncology clinic completed a self-administered survey including the modified Godin Leisure-Time Exercise Questionnaire and Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Head & Neck (FACT-H&N), which includes physical, social, emotional and functional well-being (FWB) as well as additional concerns, and the FACT-General (FACT-G). Medical variables were obtained by medical record review.


RESULTS
The majority of participants were men (83%) and were Caucasian (92%), with mean age of 58+/-12.8. Cancer sites were primarily the oral cavity (24%), oropharynx (37%), or larynx (25%), with 20% being stage I, 7% stage II, 19% stage III, and 54% stage IV disease. Chemotherapy and/or radiation were ongoing in 14% of the participants. Half of the participants (51%) were diagnosed <6 months ago. Only three (5%) participants reported any vigorous exercise minutes (M=7.3+/-35.4), and only seven (12%) participants reported any moderate exercise minutes (M=19.5+/-70.6). Light exercise was reported by 26 (44%) (M=83.4+/-147.1). Only five (8.5%) participants were meeting current public health exercise guidelines. Partial correlations adjusting for age, medical comorbidity, and alcohol use showed that the total exercise minutes (i.e., light + moderate + vigorous) was positively associated with FWB (r=0.30, p=0.027), FACT-G (r=0.25, p=0.071), and FACT-H&N (r=0.26, p=0.064), was negatively associated with fatigue (r=-0.27, p=0.051), and had no association with depression (r=0.10, p=0.500).


CONCLUSIONS
Few head and neck cancer survivors are participating in any moderate or vigorous exercise, and over half are completely sedentary. Meaningful and potentially beneficial associations between total exercise minutes, QoL, and fatigue were demonstrated. An exercise intervention may have utility in this understudied cancer survivor group. Further research is warranted.
Department of Medicine, SIU School of Medicine, P.O. Box 19636, Springfield, IL 62794-9636, USA. lrogers@siumed.edu
Laura Q
LQ
Rogers
Kerry S
KS
Courneya
K Thomas
KT
Robbins
James
J
Malone
Alison
A
Seiz
Lori
L
Koch
Krishna
K
Rao
Meenakshi
M
Nagarkar
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003863:Depression / Q000503:physiopathology; D017079:Exercise Tolerance; D005221:Fatigue / Q000503:physiopathology; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006258:Head and Neck Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009043:Motor Activity; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D010807:Physical Endurance; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D011788:Quality of Life; D012107:Research Design; D018434:Sickness Impact Profile; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D017741:Survivors