Perception Of Benefits, Barriers, And Self-efficacy Towards Physical Activity Among Women Undergoing Breast Cancer Treatment In Puerto Rico

Perception of benefits, barriers, and self-efficacy towards physical activity among womenundergoing breast cancer treatment in Puerto RicoEneida Santiago-Cabrera1, Osvaldo Hernández-Soto1, Farah A. Ramírez-Marrero2, FACSMInter-American University San Germán Campus1, and University of Puerto Rico Río PiedrasCampus2Breast cancer incidence rate in Puerto Rico has been continuously increasing, while it has beendecreasing in the United States. Although regular physical activity (PA) is an important healthbehavior for women with breast cancer, little is known about factors that influence thisbehavior in Puerto Rico. PURPOSE: To evaluate and compare PA behavior, and the perceptionof benefits, barriers, and self-efficacy towards PA among women with and without breastcancer. METHODS: A group of 114 women with breast cancer undergoing treatment (W-BCT)and 114 women without breast cancer (W-NoBC), with age range between 35-69 years,completed questionnaires for sociodemographic and general health, PA behavior, PA benefitsand barriers, and self-efficacy towards PA. Measures of height and weight were also obtained.Independent t-tests and z-score analyses were used to detect differences between groups. RESULTS: Mean height and weight for W-BCT and W-NoBC was 158.7 ± 16.1 and 158.5 ± 15.0 cm, and 73.2 ± 34.3 and 72 ± 30.9 kg, respectively (P > 0.05 for all). BMI for W-BCT and W-NoBCwas 29.0 ± 6.2, and 28.5 ± 5.2 kg/m2, respectively (P > 0.05). Self-reported PA was 408 ± 712 min/week for W-BCT, and 440 ± 671 min/week for W-NoBC (P < 0.001). Compared with W-NoBC,W-BCT had lower scores for perception of PA benefits (81.0 ± 14.9 vs. 74.0 ± 14.6, P < 0.001),similar scores for perception of PA barriers (36.0 ± 17.2 vs. 39.0 ± 16.8, P = 0.113), and lower self-efficacy towards PA (54.0 ± 23.6 vs. 43.0 ± 25.4, P = 0.001). W-BCT identified physicalperformance as the main benefit of PA (3.5 ± 0.6), while psychological benefit (3.7 ± 0.6) wasthe most important factor for W-NoBC. Physical effort was the most important PA barrier forboth groups (W-BCT: 2.9 ± 0.8, and W-NoBC: 2.6 ± 0.9). Conclusion: Our results suggest theneed to develop PA programs tailored for W-BCT, integrating education about PA benefits, andstrategies to overcome PA barriers and improve self-efficacy towards PA in this population.