Review: Effectiveness of implementation strategies to increase physical activity uptake during and after cancer treatment.

BACKGROUND

The purpose of this review was to assess the effectiveness of different strategies to implement physical activity during and after cancer treatment.

DESIGN

We searched for studies containing strategies to implement physical activity in cancer care that meet the inclusion criteria of the Cochrane EPOC group. The primary outcome was physical activity uptake. We expressed the effectiveness of the strategies as the percentage of studies with improvement.

RESULTS

Nine studies met the inclusion criteria. Patient groups doing physical activities via an implementation strategy had better outcomes than those receiving usual care: 83% of the studies showed improvement. Strategies showing significant improvement compared to usual care employed healthcare professionals to provide individual counselling or advice for exercise or interactive elements such as audit and feedback systems. When comparing the different strategies 1) interactive elements or 2) elements tailored to the needs of the patients had better physical activity uptake.

CONCLUSIONS

Implementation strategies containing individual and interactive elements, tailored to the individual needs of patients, are more successful in improving physical activity uptake.