physical activity and health-related quality of life in breast cancer patients: a multicenter cross-sectional survey

Background: physical activity (pa) has a wide range of beneficial effects on the overall health and quality of life (qol) of breast cancer survivors (bcs). objectives: the aim of this study was to determine the relationship between pa and health-related qol in malaysian bcs. methods: this is a cross-sectional survey involving 334 bcs. in addition to socio-demographic information, participants’ pa was assessed using the international physical activity questionnaire (ipaq-sf). health-related qol was assessed using the functional assessment for cancer treatment-breast (fact-b) version 4 questionnaire. pearson’s correlation was used to explore the relationship between pa and qol of the participants. results: the mean age, weight, and body mass index (bmi) of the participants were 51.9 ± 8.3 years, 60.1 ± 11.4 kg, and 25.1 ± 4.6 kg/m2 , respectively. the majority of the participants were malays (71.0%), married (83.8%), and had secondary education (52.7%). the mean total pa was 660.2 ± 797.2 whereas the mean overall qol was 79.6 ± 17.7. moderate-intensity pa was significantly correlated with physical well-being (r = 0.39, p = 0.009) and overall qol (r = 0.49, p = 0.002). it was also significantly correlated with functional well-being (r = 0.57, p = 0.054) and breast cancer concern (r = 0.48, p = 0.019). meanwhile, the total pa was correlated positively and significantly with functional well-being (r = 0.78, p = 0.041). conclusions: this study found a significant relationship between the moderate-intensity pa and the overall qol among the par- ticipants. the result also showed a significant relationship between moderate-intensity pa and breast cancer concern. the total pa showed a significant relationship with functional well-being. the breast cancer survivors needed to be encouraged to remain physically active.