“Despite evidence of the benefits of physical activity for women with breast cancer, most women did not engage in a level consistent with public health recommendations,” Emery told Reuters Health.

To identify factors associated with physical activity over the subsequent 5 years, the researchers repeated these assessments every 4 months during the first year, and every 6 months for the following 4 years. The team reports their findings in the journal Psycho-Oncology.

Initially, 20 percent of the women achieved or exceeded the goal of a minimum of 150 minutes per week of moderate-intensity activity. At the one-year assessment, 37 percent of the women achieved the same level of activity.

However, Emery’s group found just 18 percent of the women were meeting minimum physical activity recommendations after 5 years.

As noted, symptoms of depression showed a sustained negative impact on physical activity levels.

“Therefore, attention to depressive symptoms — via treatment with psychotherapy, medication, or group support, for example — would be an important first step toward rectifying the problem of low physical activity,” Emery said.

SOURCE: Psycho-Oncology, April 2009

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