Healthcare professionals' beliefs on promoting physical activity in oncology: a COM-B framework analysis

This study was aimed at exploring the opinions and promotion practices of physical activity and structured exercise among healthcare professionals-both physicians and non-physicians-in oncology care and at analyzing the associations between their beliefs/attitudes, perceived capability, opportunity, and motivation and their promotion practices. Methods This cross-sectional study included 152 physicians (71.1% women; 38.9 ± 10.5 years) and 59 non-physician health professionals (78.9% women; 42.2 ± 8.7 years) working in Portugal, who completed an online survey between 2019 and 2024. Data were analyzed using Mann-Whitney tests for dichotomous outcomes, Spearman's correlations for continuous variables, and multiple regression analyses.

Although most professionals acknowledged the importance of physical activity and reported positive beliefs, many felt unprepared to prescribe structured exercise and did so infrequently. Among physicians, the strongest predictors of promotion practices were enjoyment in discussing exercise with patients (reflecting intrinsic motivation), perceived opportunity (having time during consultations), and perceived competence to prescribe structured exercise. For non-physician professionals, perceived knowledge and competence, enjoyment in discussing physical activity, and valuing its health benefits were most relevant.

These findings highlight the need to enhance training in physical activity and exercise prescription among oncology healthcare providers to strengthen knowledge and competence and improve promotion practices. Future research should confirm these findings using larger samples and longitudinal designs.