Self-Reported Physical Activity and Quality of Life among Cancer Survivors

Physical activity (PA) is suggested to be an important non-pharmacologic means to improve health-related outcomes among cancer survivors. In a paper just published in the journal Plos ONE, with Dr. Laurien Buffart as first author, we aimed to describe PA levels and its association with health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in colorectal cancer (CRC) survivors.
CRC survivors identified from the Eindhoven Cancer Registry treated between 1998 and 2007 were included in the study. These CRC survivors completed questionnaires to assess their PA, HRQoL and a range of other factors and issues such as their experienced distress and fatigue.
We found that moderate to vigorous PA among CRC survivors was associated with higher physical quality of life, and that this association was mediated by distress and fatigue. These results suggest that more PA may lead to lower levels of distress and fatigue and that lower distress and fatigue improves  quality of life, but more rigorous research is needed to further confirm these findings.