Browsing by Author "Courneya, Kerry S."

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    A qualitative study examining newly diagnosed breast cancer patients’ experiences of participating in the Alberta Moving Beyond Breast Cancer (AMBER) prospective cohort study
    (2023-06-02) Corcoran, Lynn; Friedenreich, Christine M.; McNeely, Margaret L.; Culos-Reed, Nicole S.; Bell, Gordon; Dickau, Leanne; Courneya, Kerry S.; Vallance, Jeff K.
    Abstract Background Decisions to participate in cancer trials are associated with uncertainty, distress, wanting to help find a cure, the hope for benefit, and altruism. There is a gap in the literature regarding research examining participation in prospective cohort studies. The aim of this study was to examine the experiences of newly diagnosed women with breast cancer participating in the AMBER Study to identify potential strategies to support patients’ recruitment, retention, and motivation. Methods Newly diagnosed breast cancer patients were recruited from the Alberta Moving Beyond Breast Cancer (AMBER) cohort study. Data were collected using semi-structured conversational interviews with 21 participants from February to May 2020. Transcripts were imported into NVivo software for management, organization, and coding. Inductive content analysis was undertaken. Results Five main concepts associated with recruitment, retention, and motivation to participate were identified. These main concepts included: (1) personal interest in exercise and nutrition; (2) investment in individual results; (3) personal and professional interest in research; (4) burden of assessments; (5) importance of research staff. Conclusions Breast cancer survivors participating in this prospective cohort study had numerous reasons for participating and these reasons could be considered in future studies to enhance participant recruitment and retention. Improving recruitment and retention in prospective cancer cohort studies could result in more valid and generalizable study findings that could improve the care of cancer survivors.
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    Determinants of Physical Activity in a Cohort of Prostate Cancer Survivors
    (2018-07-24) Stone, Chelsea Rose; Friedenreich, Christine Marthe; Courneya, Kerry S.; McGregor, S. Elizabeth; Li, Haocheng
    Background: Physical activity has been shown to improve overall health, improve cancer outcomes and reduce all-cause mortality as well as prostate cancer specific mortality after diagnosis, however a cancer diagnosis can often cause a change in physical activity patterns. Current guidelines recommend 150 minutes per week of physical activity and the determinants of meeting these guidelines before and after a prostate cancer diagnosis are widely unknown. Objectives: Our first objective was to examine the determinants of meeting physical activity guidelines at pre-diagnosis and three time-points post-diagnosis. Our second objective was to examine the determinants of patterns of meeting guidelines from pre-diagnosis to two years post-diagnosis. The final objective was to examine determinants of patterns of long-term physical activity behaviours from pre-diagnosis to an average measure of post-diagnosis physical activity. Methods: This prospective cohort study included 830 prostate cancer patients who participated in a population-based case-control study between November 1997 and December 2000 in Alberta, Canada. Pre-diagnosis activity levels were self-reported at diagnosis and again at three time points post-diagnosis. Demographic, quality of life and lifestyle variables were collected by questionnaires, while medical chart abstractions were performed to capture clinical variables. Results: Active smoking status, poor physical health and rural living location were commonly found to be statistically significantly associated with failing to meet physical activity guidelines in cross-sectional analyses and in analyses examining patterns of behaviour from pre- to post-diagnosis. Conclusions: Demographic, health and lifestyle variables are associated with meeting or not meeting physical activity guidelines from pre-diagnosis to post-diagnosis. Programming should be aimed at offering survivors support to overcome determinants associated with decline in physical activity patterns.
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    Ethnicity, Gender, and the Theory of Planned Behavior: The Case of Playing the Lottery
    (National Recreation & Park Association, 2006) Walker, Gordon J.; Courneya, Kerry S.; Deng, Jinyang
    This study uses the theory of planned behavior (TPB) to explain why some people play the lottery, and it examines how the TPB’s variables and variable relationships differ due to ethnicity, or gender, or their interaction. A telephone interview conducted in English, Cantonese, and Mandarin resulted in data on the lottery play intentions of 208 Chinese/Canadians (97 males, 111 females) and 220 British/Canadians (112 males, 108 females). When intention to play the lottery was regressed on six TPB variables, it was found that: (a) affective attitude was an important predictor for all four groups, while instrumental attitude was only important for British/Canadian males; (b) injunctive norm was an important predictor only for Chinese/Canadian males, while descriptive norm was an important predictor only for British/Canadian males; (c) controllability was an important predictor only for Chinese/Canadian females, with a negative coefficient suggesting secondary control; and (d) self-efficacy was not an important predictor for any of the groups. A follow-up mail questionnaire provided additional data on the self-reported lottery play behavior of 100 Chinese/Canadians (51 males, 49 females) and 115 British/Canadians (57 males, 58 females) 30 days after the initial telephone interview was conducted. When lottery play behavior was regressed on self-efficacy, controllability, and intention, intention was found to be an important predictor for all four groups. These findings are discussed in light of recent research on the TPB, leisure and gambling, and ethnicity and gender.
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    Exercise Dose Effects on Body Fat 12 Months after an Exercise Intervention: Follow-up from a Randomized Controlled Trial
    (2019-01-20) Friedenreich, Christine M.; Ruan, Yibing; Duha, Aalo; Courneya, Kerry S.
    Background. Exercise interventions can result in weight loss, which is associated with reductions in disease risk. It is unknown how the volume of exercise prescribed in a one-time exercise intervention impacts long-term body fatness. We compared 24-month body fat changes among postmenopausal women previously prescribed 300 versus 150 minutes/week of exercise in a year-long exercise intervention trial. Methods. The Breast Cancer and Exercise Trial in Alberta (BETA) was a two-centred randomized controlled trial in Alberta, Canada. The trial consisted of a 12-month intervention and 12-month observation period. For the intervention, participants were randomized to either a moderate-volume exercise group (150 min/week) or a high-volume exercise group (300 min/week). Participants in this study were 334 inactive postmenopausal women who had been followed-up to 24 months. The primary outcome for this study was 24-month change in total body fat using dual energy X-ray absorptiometry scans. Other measures included weight, waist and hip circumferences, subcutaneous and intra-abdominal fat from computed tomography scans, and lean mass. Researchers were blinded to randomization group when measuring body fat. Results. Both groups self-reported ∼180 minutes/week moderate–vigorous activity at 24 months. No statistically significant difference was found in total body fat at 24 months between the two groups. Statistically significant effects (comparing high versus moderate groups) were found for BMI (least-square mean change (95% CI): −0.66 (−0.97, −0.36) versus −0.25 (−0.55, 0.05) kg/m2, ), waist-to-hip ratio (−0.033 (−0.040, −0.026) versus −0.023 (−0.030, −0.016), ), and subcutaneous abdominal fat area (−32.18 (−39.30, −25.06) versus −22.20 (−29.34, −15.05) cm2, ).Conclusion. Prescribing 300 versus 150 minutes/week of exercise to inactive postmenopausal women resulted in some long-term greater decreases in measures of body composition but no overall differences in total body fat loss. This trail is registered with NCT01435005.
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    A Prospective Cohort Study of Metabolic Syndrome and Endometrial Cancer Survival
    (2020-07-24) Kokts-Porietis, Renee L.; Friedenreich, Christine M.; Nelson, Gregg; Cook, Linda S.; Courneya, Kerry S.
    Background: Metabolic syndrome has been previously associated with increased endometrial cancer risk, but the relationship with metabolic syndrome and endometrial cancer survival remains unclear. Objectives: To determine the associations between metabolic syndrome using the harmonized criteria with disease-free survival, overall survival, endometrial cancer-specific survival and time to recurrence among endometrial cancer survivors. Second, to determine the association between the number of metabolic syndrome components as well as each individual metabolic syndrome component with these prognostic outcomes. Methods: A prospective cohort of 540 endometrial cancer survivors diagnosed between 2002 and 2006 participated in the Alberta Endometrial Cancer Cohort and were followed until death or March 20, 2019. Baseline in-person interviews, direct anthropometric measurements and fasting blood samples were used to assess metabolic syndrome. Recurrence and survival data were obtained via medical chart abstraction and vital status updates. Results: Compared to endometrial cancer survivors without metabolic syndrome, survivors with metabolic syndrome had worse overall survival when assessed with the harmonized criteria. Of the individual metabolic syndrome components, only waist circumference was associated with recurrence and survival outcomes. Lifetime recreational physical activity prior to diagnosis was observed to modify the associations between metabolic syndrome and its components with overall survival and disease-free survival. Conclusion: The metabolic syndrome, especially waist circumference, was associated with worse overall and disease-free survival among endometrial cancer survivors. Future research should aim to confirm these results and improve our understanding of the role lifestyle factors such as physical activity have in the association between metabolic syndrome and endometrial cancer survivors’ prognosis.