Online-delivered resistance exercise intervention among racially diverse breast cancer survivors: Feasibility,...

The aims are to determine the feasibility of an online-delivered resistance exercise program among racially diverse breast cancer survivors and to conduct an exploratory analysis of the intervention on muscular strength, physical activity levels, health-related quality of life, and self-efficacy.

A 2-arm randomized controlled trial study design with assessments at pre- and post-intervention was used. Participants (n = 52) were recruited from clinics at the host institution and randomized to either intervention (n = 28) or minimal contact control (MCC) conditions (n = 24). All participants received a 12-week individualized resistance exercise prescription based on their baseline functional strength assessment. Intervention participants exercised one-on-one once per week over Zoom with an exercise trainer. MCC participants received no supervision. Descriptive statistics were used to determine feasibility and acceptability (primary outcomes). Repeated measures ANOVAs were used to examine exploratory outcomes.

The intervention demonstrated high rates for feasibility outcomes of enrollment (80.0%) and post-intervention assessment completion (92.9%). Acceptability outcomes were high for session attendance (98.0%) and satisfaction (M_score = 4.87 out of 5, SD = .18). The intervention group increased upper- (p < .01) and lower- (p < .02) body strength compared to MCC condition.

The intervention was feasible, acceptable, and demonstrated increases in muscular strength. Limitations include a small sample recruited from one cancer center. Future research is needed to determine longitudinal impacts of resistance exercise on survivorship outcomes. Online-delivered resistance exercise shows promising efficacy among racially diverse breast cancer survivors.

gov registration: NCT04562233 on September 18, 2020.