Institute of Medical Science, Temerty Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.
Faculty of Kinesiology & Physical Education, University of Toronto, 55 Harbord Street, Toronto, ON, M5S 2W6, Canada.
BMC Womens Health. 2023 May 26;23(1):289. doi: 10.1186/s12905-023-02430-z.
Physical activity (PA) can be a beneficial strategy to mitigate physical, emotional, and social-related challenges in women living beyond breast cancer treatment (WBC). However, PA levels among WBC remain low. Optimizing social support provided in a peer-matched setting may increase PA behavior. Unfortunately, factors that lead to an ideal peer-match among WBC are not well understood. The purpose of this study was to contextualize the natural social support environment and PA behavior in newly formed peer WBC dyads participating in an ecological momentary assessment study.
WBC were matched with a partner and provided with a Fitbit activity tracker. Social support was measured using 21-daily surveys, and a 3-week follow-up survey. Descriptive statistics were calculated. Open-ended survey questions were analyzed using content analysis. Data were analyzed based on (i) social support types (informational, tangible, esteem, and emotional support); and (ii) WBC' reports of being in a good, neutral, or poor match at the end of the study.
Women (n = 46; Mage = 42.4 ± 7.6 years; 89.2% stage I-III breast cancer) connected with their partner (58.1%) and participated in moderate-vigorous PA (MVPA)(77.1%) on most days over the 21-day study period. Women were identified as being in good (63%), neutral (20%), or poor (17%) dyad matches. The most frequently documented social support received by WBC was esteem support. Participants in a good match were more likely to report receiving all types of social support compared to neutral or poor matches.
CONCLUSION & CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS: Findings describe the social support characteristics important to WBC for facilitating their PA participation in a partner-based setting. This study provides valuable insight that can inform the development of partner-based PA interventions for WBC.
身体活动（PA）可以作为一种有益的策略，减轻女性在癌症治疗后（WBC）面临的身体、情绪和社交相关挑战。然而，WBC 的 PA 水平仍然较低。在匹配的同伴环境中优化提供的社会支持可能会增加 PA 行为。不幸的是，导致 WBC 形成理想同伴匹配的因素尚不清楚。本研究的目的是在新形成的参与生态瞬时评估研究的同伴 WBC 对中，将自然社会支持环境和 PA 行为置于背景下。
将 WBC 与同伴相匹配，并提供 Fitbit 活动追踪器。使用 21 天的日常调查和 3 周的后续调查来测量社会支持。计算描述性统计数据。使用内容分析对开放式调查问题进行分析。数据分析基于（i）社会支持类型（信息、有形、尊重和情感支持）；以及（ii）WBC 在研究结束时报告的良好、中性或较差匹配情况。
女性（n=46；Mage=42.4±7.6 岁；89.2%为 I-III 期乳腺癌）与伴侣（58.1%）联系，并在 21 天的研究期间大多数天都进行了中到高强度的身体活动（MVPA）（77.1%）。女性被确定为良好（63%）、中性（20%）或较差（17%）的配对匹配。WBC 收到的最常见的社会支持是尊重支持。与中性或较差的匹配相比，良好匹配的参与者更有可能报告收到所有类型的社会支持。
研究结果描述了对 WBC 促进其在基于伴侣的环境中参与 PA 重要的社会支持特征。本研究提供了有价值的见解，可以为基于伴侣的 WBC PA 干预措施的发展提供信息。
