Healthy lifestyle alignment associated with better physical health after breast cancer

Researchers examined lifestyle alignment and physical health among 1,610 breast cancer survivors and 16,100 age- and survey date-matched women without cancer in the American Cancer Society (ACS) Cancer Prevention Study-3 prospective cohort. Alignment with recommendations on body weight, physical activity, diet, and alcohol was scored from 0–8 and categorized as low (0–4) or high (5–8). Physical health was measured using the Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System Global Health Scale, with analyses at pre-diagnosis, less than three years, and at least three years after diagnosis.

Higher guideline alignment was associated with better physical health (P<0.001). Compared with women without cancer who had low alignment, chemotherapy-treated survivors with low alignment had lower physical health scores both before three years (β=−2.67; 95% CI, −3.77 to −1.58) and thereafter (β=−2.10; 95% CI, −3.70 to −0.51). Chemotherapy-treated survivors with high alignment had higher scores than that same reference group: β=1.09 (95% CI, 0.30–1.89) and β=2.56 (95% CI, 1.40–3.72), respectively.

The findings support the potential relevance of healthy lifestyle behaviors in survivorship care. However, this observational analysis cannot establish that lifestyle changes improve physical health. Outcomes were self-reported, and the abstract does not establish the clinical importance of the score differences. Full text was unavailable for assessment.