Better not resting: Carving out attitudes and their associations with physical activity in people with cancer

Abstract

Objective: Evidence on the benefits of physical activity (PA) during cancer has caused a paradigm shift from people with cancer being advised to save energy (rest paradigm) to guidelines recommending them to engage in regular PA (activity paradigm). This study examined the rest and the activity paradigm among people with cancer based on the theory of planned behaviour (TPB). Methods: A cross-sectional survey was completed by N = 1244 people (58% women; M = 59.95 years) with breast, prostate and colorectal cancer, including 15 items on rest and activity attitudes. To explain the intention to engage in PA, hierarchical regression analyses were calculated. Results: The two-dimensional structure of attitudes (rest and activity) was confirmed. The agreement with the activity paradigm (M = 4.11; SD = 0.78) was higher compared to the rest paradigm (M = 2.56; SD = 0.78, p