Beliefs and interests in physical activity programs of cancer survivors and their romantic partners
Menée aux Etats-Unis par enquête en ligne auprès de 209 patients ayant survécu à un cancer et de leurs 155 partenaires de vie, cette étude analyse les facteurs associés à leurs opinions concernant l'intérêt de l'activité physique et leurs préférences vis-à-vis des programmes encourageant cette pratique
Purpose : Physical activity is associated with improved health outcomes for cancer survivors and their romantic partners, yet it is unclear if joint exercise programs for survivor-partner dyads are acceptable. This study examined demographic, relationship, exercise, and cancer history correlates of survivors’ and their romantic partners’ couples-based exercise beliefs and their preferences for program designs. Methods : All participants (survivors n=209, partners n=155, couples n=143) completed an online survey. Correlations and linear regression analyses were used to examine correlates of participants’ importance of and interest in couples-based exercise and their likelihood of joining a couples-based exercise program. Intraclass correlations estimated shared variance at the couple level. Results : Most participants believed that couples-based exercise was highly important (51.8%) and were interested in a couples-based exercise program (61.5%), but fewer survivors believed their partner would be interested or would likely join a couples-based program. Across all outcomes, partner support for exercise was most strongly associated with participants’ couples-based exercise beliefs (r = 0.19–0.54, p<.05), and couples were significantly aligned in their beliefs (
ρ=0.20
–0.31, p<.01). Participants were interested in exercise programs involving exercising together (67.3%) as well as exercising separately while sharing activity data on an app or website (48.0%). Conclusions : This novel understanding of couples-based exercise beliefs provides a strong foundation upon which future exercise programs may be designed for survivors and their romantic partners. Impact for Cancer Survivors : Survivors’ adoption and maintenance of exercise may be enhanced by the inclusion of romantic partners in exercise programs, and partners’ inclusion is appealing to couples.