Physical activity is associated with clinically important differences in health-related quality of life among rural and small-town breast cancer survivors.
The primary purpose of this study was to examine differences in health-related quality of life and fatigue between rural and small-town (RST) breast cancer survivors meeting and not meeting public health physical activity (PA) recommendations.
Using a retrospective survey design, RST breast cancer survivors (N = 524) residing in Southern Alberta, Canada completed a mailed questionnaire assessing self-reported prediagnosis, on treatment, and current PA behavior, and current health-related quality of life and fatigue.
Analyses indicated 44.1%, 13.7%, and 34.7% of RST breast cancer survivors met public health PA recommendations during prediagnosis, on treatment, and post-treatment (i.e., current) time periods, respectively. Multivariate analyses of variance suggested indicated survivors currently meeting PA recommendations reported clinically advantageous differences in health-related quality of life and fatigue symptoms than survivors not currently meeting PA recommendations. Repeated measures analyses also indicated significant differences in PA behavior across the three cancer-related time periods (all p