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Advisor(s)
Abstract(s)
Background: Women survivors of breast cancer treatments face significant challenges
around initiation or maintenance of physical activity (PA) as they transit to recovery.
Embracing their needs and preferences is important to increase adherence. This study
aimed to explore the perspectives of Portuguese women survivors of breast cancer
regarding regular performance of PA and individual choices and strategies that should
be considered in designing effective interventions.
Methods: The individual semi-structured interviews (N = 20) were analyzed through
thematic analysis, following an inductive process, seeking to identify the barriers,
facilitators, and particular influencing circumstances associated with regular PA.
Results: Four themes and several contextual, emotional, physical, and social factors
were identified as determinants of regular PA. Guilt, women’s duties, and altruism to
help close relatives were identified as emotional and cultural factors that are less-found
in the existing literature. PA showed influence both from health professionals’ counseling
and from knowledge and beliefs held by these women.
Conclusion: While confirming the already-known impact of breast cancer diagnosis
and treatments on PA, which redefine participants’ availability to be active, the findings
highlight beliefs and specific emotional factors that should be considered when planning
culturally sensitive interventions.
Description
This work received national funding from FCT—Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, I.P, through the Research Center for Psychological Science of the Faculty of Psychology, University of Lisbon (UIDB/04527/2020 and UIDP/04527/2020).
Keywords
Female Cancer survivors Breast neoplasm Exercise Health behavior
Pedagogical Context
Citation
Sequeira, M., Luz, R., Alvarez, M-J. (2022). The practice of physical activity after breast cancer treatments: A Qualitative study among portuguese women. Frontiers in Psychology, 13:823139. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.823139
Publisher
Frontiers