Healthy lifestyle behaviors among a diverse population of early posttreatment adolescent and young adult (AYA) survivors participating in a virtual stress management program.

Authors

Vinayak Venkataraman

Vinayak Venkataraman

Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA

Vinayak Venkataraman , Michaela Markwart , Lucy Finkelstein-Fox , Jennifer S. Temel , Elyse R. Park , Giselle Katiria Perez

Organizations

Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA

Research Funding

U.S. National Institutes of Health
U.S. National Institutes of Health, Harvard Medical School Eleanor and Miles Shore Family Award

Background: Adolescent and young adults (AYA) cancer survivors have worse long-term physical health than survivors of adult cancers. Healthy lifestyle behaviors can maximize physical health and enhance quality of life. The National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) publishes survivorship guidelines for healthy behaviors; however, it is unclear if AYA survivors follow these recommendations. Methods: This is a secondary analysis of a waitlist-controlled trial of an adapted mind body stress management group program for AYA survivors recruited between 03/2019-09/2020. Participants completed self-report questionnaires assessing tobacco use, e-cigarette use, alcohol use, physical activity, and sleep quality both before and after completing the 8-week group program. Descriptive statistics were used to characterize the proportions of survivors meeting NCCN guidelines at time of enrollment. Results: Seventy-two AYA survivors participated in this study (mean age 24, 74% female, 60% Non-Hispanic White, 21% Hispanic, 4% Black, 53% hematologic malignancy, mean 1.6 years post-treatment).Table 1 summarizes NCCN guidelines and concordant behavior at enrollment. Most participants met guidelines for tobacco and e-cigarette use at study entry, with the majority reporting they abstained from using tobacco (85%) and e-cigarettes (90%). Only 28% reported abstaining from any alcohol use. Of those who consumed alcohol, most reported consuming < 3 drinks per day (83%), but 65% endorsed at least occasional binge drinking behavior ( > 5 drinks). Only 52% met guidelines for vigorous- or moderate- intensity activity (i.e. 75 and 150 minutes weekly, respectively). Specifically, participants reported a median of 47.5 minutes/week (IQR 0-120 min/week) of vigorous-intensity activity and 60 minutes/week (IQR 30-140) of moderate-intensity activity. Many experienced sleep concerns, with only 30% reporting good or very good sleep (i.e. > 4 on a 1 (very poor)-5 (very good) Likert scale). Conclusions: In a racially/ethnically diverse sample of AYA survivors, NCCN survivorship guideline concordance for healthy lifestyle was mixed. Of concern was that AYA survivors’ use of tobacco and e-cigs was similar to the general population. Furthermore, alcohol and physical activity recommendations were mostly not followed, and reported sleep quality was poor. These results highlight the need to better understand barriers and promote healthy lifestyles to optimize post-treatment outcomes.

Baseline adherence to NCCN guidelines.

BehaviorRecommendationProportion concordant
Tobacco useNone85%
E-cigarette useNone90%
Alcohol use < 3 servings83%
Alcohol use (binge drinking)None35%
Physical activity (vigorous-intensity)75 min/week38%
Physical activity (moderate intensity)150 min/week23%

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Abstract Details

Meeting

2023 ASCO Annual Meeting

Session Type

Publication Only

Session Title

Publication Only: Symptoms and Survivorship

Track

Symptom Science and Palliative Care

Sub Track

Health Promotion/Behaviors

Citation

J Clin Oncol 41, 2023 (suppl 16; abstr e24048)

DOI

10.1200/JCO.2023.41.16_suppl.e24048

Abstract #

e24048

Abstract Disclosures

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