Barriers to Provision of Lifestyle Counseling to Cancer Survivors: A Theory of Planned Behavior Study

Abstract

This study sought to identify factors associated with doctors’ intention to provide lifestyle counseling to cancer survivors and provide an evidence base for developing an intervention to maximize counseling behavior in cancer management programs. A cross-sectional survey based on the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) was conducted. Participants were 210 medical doctors recruited from two hospitals in Nigeria. Participants completed questionnaires containing all the theoretical constructs of TPB. Structural equation modeling was used for data analysis. Goodness-of-fit indices indicated adequate fit for the final structural models. Attitude and subjective norm, but not perceived behavioral control, were identified as significant predictors of intention to provide lifestyle counseling. Intention also significantly predicted counseling behavior. This evidence informs the design of a behavioral intervention to improve lifestyle counseling behavior in cancer management programs.