Relationship Between Exercise During Treatment and Current Quality of Life Among Survivors of Breast Cancer

Abstract

This retrospective study examined the relationship between exercise during cancer treatment and current quality of life among 167 survivors of breast cancer. The women had been diagnosed within the previous two years and had completed adjuvant therapy. Each participant completed a mailed, self-administered questionnaire that assessed her exercise behavior at three points (prediagnosis, active treatment, and posttreatment); her current physical, functional, emotional, and social quality of life; and her overall satisfaction with life. The results indicated that (1) levels of exercise declined from prediagnosis to active treatment and then increased from active treatment to posttreatment, (2) exercise during active treatment was associated with a higher quality of life and with overall satisfaction with life, and (3) maintenance of exercise across the three time periods was the optimal pattern for enhanced quality of life and overall satisfaction with life. The authors concluded that cancer treatment has a negative impact on exercise levels but that the women who maintained their exercise behavior during and after treatment reported a higher quality of life one to two years later.