Researchers suggest rehabilitation programs for women diagnosed with the disease so as to help them restart their physical activity regime

Postmenopausal women who survive cancer develop a faster decline in their physical activity than those without cancer, a recent study has found.

The research paper titled “Long-term Trajectories of Physical Function Decline in Women With and Without Cancer” was published in Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) Oncology.

The researchers analyzed the physical activities of 9,203 female cancer survivors before and after their cancer diagnosis. This data was collected from the Women’s Health Initiative (WHI) between 1993 and 1998 which included 5,989 women with breast cancer, 1352 women with colorectal, 960 endometrial cancer, and 902 women with lung cancer.

They further compared the data with 45,358 non-cancerous women observing that there was a sharp decline in the physical activity of all types of cancer-surviving women.

It was also observed that the decrease in the physical functioning of survivors was continuous. Even after five years of diagnosis, their physical activity was still found to measure low as compared to women who didn’t have any cancer. It was also found that the decline in physical activity within one year of diagnosis was severe in the case of regional cancer.

The study suggests rehabilitation programs for women diagnosed with cancer so as to help them restart their physical activity regime.

A similar study in 2014 observed that older women with breast cancer were at an increased risk of reduced physical activity which was further associated with a decrease in their survival time. The research identified that breast cancer survivors experience reduced quality of life. They also reported limitations in self-rated health (SRH) functioning following the initial treatment for breast cancer. The reduced physical functioning significantly impacts overall survival.

Author

Insha Dar

Insha Mushtaq, a health reporter for The Health Leads, hails originally from Srinagar, Kashmir. She possesses an uncanny ability to distill complex issues into accessible and engaging articles. In addition, Insha holds a bachelor’s degree in Mass Media from Mumbai University and is currently pursuing a Master's in Convergent Journalism at the Central University of Kashmir.
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