Exercise and health‐related quality of life in older long‐term prostate cancer survivors

In a study just published in the journal Cancer -with Dr. Laurien Buffart as first author-, we examined the effects of 12 months of exercise on health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in older long-term survivors of prostate cancer. We also studied for whom this intervention was effective and what possible working mechanisms of the intervention were, i.e. we studied moderators (for whom?) and mediators (how?) of the intervention effects.
In total, 100 men with a mean age of 71.7 years participated in and RCT, and were randomly assigned to 6 months of supervised aerobic and resistance exercise followed by 6 months of a home-based exercise maintenance program (EX group) or printed education material regarding physical activity for 12 months (PA group).
The results show that aerobic and resistance exercise appear to have beneficial effects on HRQoL among older, long-term survivors of prostate cancer. These effects were larger among patients who were married, who started exercising sooner rather than later after diagnosis, and who previously used bisphosphonates. Improvements in lower body functional performance as a result of the exercise intervention mediated the effects on HRQoL.