Associations between physical activity and health-related quality of life in cancer patients on active treatment

Merve Gezen Bolukbas; Serife Vatansever; Deniz Zeynep Sonmez

doi:10.2478/bhk-2026-0006

Figures & Tables

Relationship between participants’ quality of life according to gender (independent samples test)

Quality of life items	Gender	Mean value ± SD	t	p	Cohen’s d (95% CI)
Functional scales
Physical functioning	Female	56.36 ± 29.81	−1.15	0.25	0.15 (−0.12–0.42)
Physical functioning	Male	61.25 ± 32.09	−1.15	0.25
Role functioning	Female	68.15 ± 37.60	−0.45	0.65	0.06 (−021–0.33)
Role functioning	Male	70.46 ± 36.88	−0.45	0.65
Emotional functioning	Female	66.44 ± 29.17	−0.58	0.55	0.08 (−0.19–0.35)
Emotional functioning	Male	68.89 ± 31.64	−0.58	0.55
Cognitive functioning	Female	70.23 ± 30.46	−0.12	0.89	0.02 (−0.25–0.29)
Cognitive functioning	Male	70.79 ± 32.43	−0.12	0.89
Social functioning	Female	70.38 ± 31.61	−0.20	0.83	0.03 (−0.24–0.30)
Social functioning	Male	71.28 ± 32.75	−0.20	0.83
Symptoms scales
Fatigue	Female	52.38 ± 29.43	1.17	0.24	0.15 (−0.12–0.42)
Fatigue	Male	47.52 ± 31.11	1.17	0.24
Nausea and vomiting	Female	24.40 ± 30.42	0.47	0.63	0.06 (−0.21–0.33)
Nausea and vomiting	Male	22.44 ± 30.31	0.47	0.63
Pain	Female	42.41 ± 31.94	0.83	0.40	0.11 (−0.16–0.38)
Pain	Male	38.77 ± 31.27	0.83	0.40
Dyspnea	Female	28.57 ± 34.32	−0.93	0.35	0.13 (−0.14–0.40)
Dyspnea	Male	33.00 ± 34.79	−0.93	0.35
Insomnia	Female	36.90 ± 37.53	0.11	0.90	0.01 (−0.26–0.28)
Insomnia	Male	36.30 ± 37.14	0.11	0.90
Appetite loss	Female	34.82 ± 37.53	−0.10	0.92	0.03 (−0.24–0.30)
Appetite loss	Male	35.31 ± 34.26	−0.10	0.92
Constipation	Female	25.89 ± 31.86	0.32	0.74	0.24 (−0.12–0.59)
Constipation	Male	15.18 ± 23.81	0.32	0.74
Diarrhea	Female	20.23 ± 32.68	1.27	0.20	0.18 (−0.09–0.45)
Diarrhea	Male	15.18 ± 23.81	1.27	0.20
Financial difficulties	Female	27.97 ± 31.81	−0.38	0.69	0.05 (−0.22–0.32)
Financial difficulties	Male	29.70 ± 33.30	−0.38	0.69
Global health status	Female	51.7 ± 31.87	0.49	0.62	0.07 (−0.20–0.34)
Global health status	Male	4,950 ± 32.84	0.49	0.62

Relationship between participants’ total physical activity score (MET-min/week) and global health status

Variable	Mean value ± SD	Pearson r	p
Total physical activity (MET-min/week)	739.61 ± 983.46	0.396	0.00*
Global health status	50.66 ± 32.28	0.396	0.00*

Relationship between participants’ general physical activity scores and some variables (independent samples test)

Variables	Groups	Mean value ± SD	t	p	Cohen’s d
Total physical activity scores by gender (MET-min/week)	Female	757.93 ± 935.40	0.28	0.77	0.04
Total physical activity scores by gender (MET-min/week)	Male	719.29 ± 1038.48	0.28	0.77
Total physical activity scores (MET-min/week) by marital status	Unmarried	682.97 ± 645.63	−0.42	0.67	0.08
	Married	753.94 ± 1052.94	−0.42	0.67
Total physical activity scores (MET-min/week) according to smoking status	Yes	776.57 ± 973.95	0.25	0.79	0.05
	No	731.33 ± 988.18	0.25	0.79
Total physical activity scores according to alcohol consumption status (MET-min/week)	Yes	520.71 ± 501.43	−0.59	0.55	0.28
	No	747.05 ± 995.58	−0.59	0.55

Relationship between participants’ quality of life and cancer type (one-way ANOVA)

Quality of life items	Cancer type	Mean value ± SD	F	p	η 2 {\eta }^{2}	LSD post hoc
Functional scales
Physical functioning	Lung cancer¹	56.46 ± 33.01	2.30	0.05*	0.04	1–4*
	Colon cancer ²	62.98 ± 30.11				2–5*
	Breast cancer³	59.71 ± 29.24				3–4*
	Prostate cancer⁴	77.14 ± 24.62				4–5*
	Other cancer types^{a, 5}	49.29 ± 30.77
Role functioning	Lung cancer	67.67 ± 36.26	1.13	0.34	0.03
	Colon cancer	72.41 ± 36.80
	Breast cancer	70.42 ± 36.96
	Prostate cancer	84.52 ± 32.33
	Other cancer types^a	60.60 ± 41.20
Emotional functioning	Lung cancer¹	64.77 ± 30.89	2.74	0.03*	0.05	1–4*
	Colon cancer ²	73.85 ± 30.10				2–5*
	Breast cancer³	68.54 ±± 26.65				3–4*
	Prostate cancer⁴	86.30 ± 23.25				4–5*
	Other cancer types^{a, 5}	57.82 ± 35.77
Cognitive functioning	Lung cancer	70.45 ± 30.49	1.13	0.34	0.03
	Colon cancer	77.58 ± 32.20
	Breast cancer	69.71 ± 30.64
	Prostate cancer	78.57 ± 31.64
	Other cancer types^a	62.62 ± 33.34
Social functioning	Lung cancer	71.46 ± 33.30	1.29	0.27	0.03
	Colon cancer	75.28 ± 31.37
	Breast cancer	68.07 ± 31.21
	Prostate cancer	85.71 ± 25.19
	Other cancer types^a	65.15 ± 33.94
Symptoms scales
Fatigue	Lung cancer¹	51.01 ± 30.81	4.01	0.00*	0.07	1–4*
	Colon cancer ²	42.52 ± 27.38				2–5*
	Breast cancer³	50.86 ± 28.58				3–4*
	Prostate cancer⁴	27.77 ± 24.55				3–5*
	Other cancer types^{a, 5}	62.62 ± 31.89
Nausea and vomiting	Lung cancer	23.98 ± 30.40	1.34	0.25	0.01
	Colon cancer	21.83 ± 29.91
	Breast cancer	19.48 ± 26.87
	Prostate cancer	20.23 ± 27.09
	Other cancer types^a	33.83 ± 37.38
Pain	Lung cancer¹	39.14 ± 31.00	2.36	0.05*	0.04	2–5*
	Colon cancer ²	33.33 ± 30.53				3–4*
	Breast cancer³	43.42 ± 31.80				4–5*
	Prostate cancer⁴	25.00 ± 29.77
	Other cancer types^{a, 5}	51.01 ± 31.44
Dyspnea	Lung cancer	37.87 ± 36.92	1.89	0.11	0.02
	Colon cancer	25.28 ± 35.24
	Breast cancer	25.82 ± 33.89
	Prostate cancer	19.04 ± 25.19
	Other cancer types^a	36.36 ± 31.58
Insomnia	Lung cancer¹	43.43 ± 39.64	3.36	0.01*	0.06	1–2*
	Colon cancer ²	19.54 ± 30.23				1–4*
	Breast cancer³	37.08 ± 38.02				2–3*
	Prostate cancer⁴	19.04 ± 25.19				2–5*
	Other cancer types^{a, 5}	44.44 ± 35.02				4–5*
Appetite loss	Lung cancer¹	37.87 ± 35.02	3.46	0.00*	0.06	1–5*
	Colon cancer ²	28.73 ± 34.18				2–5*
	Breast cancer³	30.04 ± 36.14				3–5*
	Prostate cancer⁴	19.04 ± 25.19				4–5*
	Other cancer types^{a, 5}	52.52 ± 37.29
Constipation	Lung cancer	29.29 ± 34.35	0.59	0.66	0.02
	Colon cancer	21.83 ± 29.91
	Breast cancer	21.59 ± 29.33
	Prostate cancer	28.57 ± 34.23
	Other cancer types^a	26.26 ± 37.96
Diarrhea	Lung cancer	15.15 ± 24.93	0.87	0.47	0.02
	Colon cancer	19.54 ± 30.23
	Breast cancer	20.18 ± 32.11
	Prostate cancer	7.14 ± 14.19
	Other cancer types^a	21.21 ± 32.07
Financial difficulties	Lung cancer	33.83 ± 35.32	1.80	0.12	0.02
	Colon cancer	21.83 ± 28.55
	Breast cancer	32.39 ± 32.35
	Prostate cancer	16.66 ± 17.29
	Other cancer types^a	22.22 ± 32.98
Global health status	Lung cancer¹	45.32 ± 32.36	2.58	0.03*	0.05	1–4*
	Colon cancer ²	49.99 ± 32.58				2–4*
	Breast cancer³	54.46 ± 31.86				4–5*
	Prostate cancer⁴	72.02 ± 35.23
	Other cancer types^{a, 5}	44.69 ± 32.26

Demographic and clinical characteristics of study participants

Variables		n	Percentage (%)
Gender	Female	112	52.6
	Male	101	47.4
Marital status	Unmarried	43	20.2
	Married	170	79.8
Cancer type	Lung cancer	66	31
	Colon cancer	29	13.6
	Breast cancer	71	33.3
	Prostate cancer	14	6.6
	Other cancer types^a	33	15.5
Type of cancer treatment	Chemotherapy	145	68.1
	Radiotherapy	21	9.9
	Combined	47	22
Cancer stage	Stage I	48	22.5
	Stage II	34	16
	Stage III	39	18.3
	Stage IV	92	43.2
Education level	Primary	167	78.4
	High school	33	15.5
	Associate’s degree	4	1.9
	Undergraduate degree	9	4.2
Smoking status	Yes	39	18.3
	No	174	81.7
Alcohol consumption	Yes	7	3.3
	No	206	96.7
Chronic disease status	Diabetes	15	23.8
	Diabetes and blood pressure	16	25.4
	Blood pressure	19	30.2
	Other	12	20.6
Occupational status	Freelance	29	13.6
	Housewife	101	47.4
	Unemployed	5	2.4
	Retired	55	25.8
	Worker	17	8
	Public servant	6	2.8
Physical activity level	Physically inactive (<600 MET-min/week)	145	68.1
	Low physical activity level (600–3,000 MET-min/week)	62	29.1
	Adequate physical activity level (beneficial for health) (>3,000 MET-min/week)	6	2.8

Total physical activity score (MET-min/week) of participants according to cancer type (one-way ANOVA)

Cancer type	n	Mean value ± SD	F	p	η 2 {\eta }^{2}	LSD post hoc
Lung cancer¹	66	564.48 ± 629.54	2.90	0.02*	0.05	1–2*
Colon cancer²	29	1087.37 ± 1750.59				1–4*
Breast cancer³	71	767.10 ± 873.52				2–5*
Prostate cancer⁴	14	1243.57 ± 1207.16				4–5*
Other cancer types^a,5	33	511.318 ± 566.24
Total	213	739.61 ± 983.46

Associations between physical activity and health-related quality of life in cancer patients on active treatment

Figures & Tables

Relationship between participants’ quality of life according to gender (independent samples test)

Relationship between participants’ total physical activity score (MET-min/week) and global health status

Relationship between participants’ general physical activity scores and some variables (independent samples test)

Relationship between participants’ quality of life and cancer type (one-way ANOVA)

Demographic and clinical characteristics of study participants

Total physical activity score (MET-min/week) of participants according to cancer type (one-way ANOVA)

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