Accelerometer-derived physical activity and sedentary time by cancer type in the United States.
Level 4 - case-series / case-control
Matched cross-sectional study using survey data (NHANES)
PubMed 28806753 · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0182554
What was done
Researchers analyzed accelerometer data from the 2003–2004 and 2005–2006 NHANES cycles to assess physical activity and sedentary patterns in 508 short- and long-term cancer survivors compared to 1,016 age-matched non-cancer controls. Multivariate regression was used to evaluate differences in light-intensity activity, moderate-to-vigorous activity, total sedentary time, and sedentary breaks after adjusting for potential confounders.
What was found
Cancer survivors (mean age 61.4 years, 57% female) performed an average of 307 min/day of light-intensity activity (95% CI: 295, 319) and 16 min/day of moderate-to-vigorous activity (95% CI: 14, 17), with only 8% meeting activity guidelines. They accumulated 519 min/day of sedentary time (95% CI: 506, 532) and 86 sedentary breaks/day (95% CI: 84, 88). Compared with non-cancer controls, survivors performed significantly less light-intensity activity (P = 0.01), spent more time sedentary (P = 0.01), and took fewer sedentary breaks (P = 0.04), with no significant differences in other activity metrics.
Why it matters
This study provides objective population-level evidence that cancer survivors spend more time sedentary and engage in less light physical activity than matched peers, identifying sedentary behavior and light activity as practical targets for post-diagnosis interventions.
Limits
The study is cross-sectional, preventing causal determination of whether cancer diagnosis or treatment directly caused reduced activity. Specific cancer treatments, disease stage, and longitudinal trajectories are not detailed in the abstract, and data are derived from older NHANES cohorts.
Cited by
- supports Overall physical activity levels among post-treatment cancer survivors are roughly similar to physical activity levels in the general population.