Effect of Breast Cancer on Physical Activity in Women

Introduction. Breast cancer is the most commonly found type of cancer in women. One cancer risk factor related to lifestyle that seems to be particularly worth examining is physical activity. The aims of the study were to analyse the physical activity of women who had been diagnosed with breast cancer for the first time and had undergone surgical treatment as well as to determine how their physical activity patterns changed with respect to the patterns from before the diagnosis.

Material and methods. The research was carried out by means of a diagnostic survey. The instrument used was an original questionnaire designed for the purposes of the study. A total of 200 female breast cancer patients were surveyed between September 2015 and April 2016. The data collected in the study were subjected to statistical analysis.

Results. The study showed that after developing cancer, a considerable percentage of women who were not physically active earlier started to perform regular physical activity. Before being diagnosed with cancer, 58% of the respondents did not spend any time engaging in physical activity or only performed it up to 30 minutes per week, whereas after receiving the diagnosis, more than half of the respondents spent a few hours a week being physically active.

Conclusions. After being diagnosed with breast cancer, the majority of patients led a healthy lifestyle; the women surveyed in the study were more active and spent more time engaging in sports and recreation.