The Role of Spirituality on Physical Activity and Sleep Among African American Long-Term Breast Cancer Survivors

African Americans with chronic conditions have reported the importance of spirituality in their lives. Aspects of spirituality have been shown to be related to physical activity (PA) and sleep, and PA and sleep affect quality of life (QOL). This study examined the association between spirituality, PA, and sleep in long-term African American breast cancer survivors.

This cross-sectional study included 323 breast cancer survivors who previously participated in a case-only study. During 2015-2016, participants completed a questionnaire focused on survivorship that used validated measures for spirituality, PA, and sleep. Adjusted binary and multinomial logistic regression models estimated odds ratios (aORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for the associations of spirituality with total PA, meeting PA guidelines, sleep duration, and sleep medication.

The mean age at diagnosis was 54.8 (SD = 9.89) years. The range of spirituality scores was 7-48 (median = 44). Among participants who had a score ≥ 44, 59% had high total PA, 61% met PA guidelines, 59% had high sleep duration, and 55% did not use sleep medication. Higher spirituality score was associated with higher total PA (aOR for ≥ 681 min/week: 1.90, 95% CI: 1.03-3.50), meeting PA guidelines (aOR: 1.78, 95% CI: 1.06-2.98), sleep duration > 7 h/night (aOR: 1.72, 95% CI 1.05-2.83), and lack of sleep medication use (aOR: 0.45, 95% CI: 0.24-0.84).

In African American long-term breast cancer survivors, a higher spirituality score increased the likelihood of greater PA and high sleep duration. These results indicate that interventions surrounding spirituality may benefit the QOL of African American breast cancer survivors.