title: Lifestyle behaviors of African American breast cancer survivors: a Sisters Network, Inc. study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  African American breast cancer survivors experience poor cancer outcomes that may, in part, be remedied by healthy lifestyle choices. Few studies have evaluated the health and lifestyle behaviors of this population. The purpose of this study was to characterize the health and lifestyle habits of African American breast cancer survivors and evaluate the socio-demographic and medical correlates of these behaviors.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 470 African American breast cancer survivors (mean age = 54 years) participated in an online survey. All participants completed measures assessing medical and demographic characteristics, physical activity, and sedentary behavior. Chi-square tests for association, nonparametric tests, and logistic regression models were used to assess associations. All statistical tests were two sided.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Almost half (47%) of the women met the current guidelines for physical activity, almost half (47%) were obese, and many reported having high blood pressure (53%) or diabetes (21%). The prevalence of high blood pressure, diabetes, and high cholesterol increased by age (P<0.001), and obese women had a higher prevalence of high blood pressure (63% vs. 44%) and diabetes (21% vs. 12%) than did non-obese women (all P<0.05). Obese women participated in significantly fewer total minutes of physical activity per week (100 minutes/week) than did non-obese women (150 minutes/week; P<0.05). The number of comorbid conditions was associated with increased odds for physical inactivity (odds ratio = 1.40) and obesity (odds ratio = 2.22).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Many African American breast cancer survivors had chronic conditions that may be exacerbated by poor lifestyle choices. Our results also provide evidence that healthy lifestyle interventions among obese African American breast cancer survivors are urgently needed.
authors.affiliation: Dorothy I. Height Center for Health Equity & Evaluation Research at the University of Houston/The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas, United States of America. rjpaxton@mdanderson.org
authors.forename: Raheem J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Paxton
authors.forename: Wendell C
authors.initials: WC
authors.lastname: Taylor
authors.forename: Shine
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.forename: Kerry S
authors.initials: KS
authors.lastname: Courneya
authors.forename: Lovell A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Jones
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001741:Black or African American; D000368:Aged; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000523:psychology; D015897:Comorbidity; D003920:Diabetes Mellitus / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000523:psychology; D015444:Exercise / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D015438:Health Behavior / Q000208:ethnology; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D006937:Hypercholesterolemia / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000523:psychology; D006973:Hypertension / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000523:psychology; D008019:Life Style / Q000208:ethnology*; D016015:Logistic Models; D008875:Middle Aged; D009765:Obesity; D057185:Sedentary Behavior / Q000208:ethnology; D017741:Survivors; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology