Physical Activity among Colorectal Cancer Patients and Survivors in Egypt

Understanding physical activity (PA) levels is important when developing tertiary cancer prevention interventions, especially in Egypt where colorectal cancer (CRC) is more often diagnosed at later stages and at a younger age of onset (≤40 years).

We assessed PA levels among CRC patients and survivors in Alexandria, Egypt. All participants completed two self-reported PA assessments: Global Physical Activity Questionnaire (GPAQ) and Godin Leisure-Time Exercise Questionnaire (GLTEQ). Participants could opt to wear an accelerometer for seven days. Results were compared against WHO recommendations of ≥150 minutes or ≥600 metabolic equivalents of tasks (METs) of moderate-to-vigorous PA weekly.

Of 86 participants enrolled, all completed the surveys and 29 agreed to accelerometer use. Prevalence of meeting PA recommendations was 62.8% based on the GPAQ, 14.0% based on GLTEQ, and 41% based on accelerometer. Based on the GPAQ, very few respondents reported vigorous occupational, vigorous recreational, or moderate recreational activity (median = 0 with interquartile range [IQR] of 0 - 0 weekly minutes for all three) while most activity resulted from moderate occupational and transportation (median [IQR] of 60 [0-840] and 60 [0-187.5] weekly minutes, respectively). Participants meeting PA recommendations were less likely to be married (p = 0.043) according to GPAQ and more likely to be female (p=0.047) and early cancer stage (p=0.007) by GLTEQ.

Non-leisure free-living PA is a major contributor to meeting PA recommendations while leisure-time PA is a potential target for future interventions that increase PA in this population.