THE USE OF TELEHEALTH INTERVENTIONS TO IMPROVE PHYSICAL ACTIVITY IN ADULT CANCER SURVIVORS: A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW.

PURPOSE/HYPOTHESIS: Reduced physical activity is associated with poor prognosis in cancer survivors. Clinicians and researchers have attempted to improve adherence to physical activity recommendations, essentially bridging the gap between the clinic and the home by incorporating telehealth interventions in patients with chronic diseases such as cancer. However, various types of telehealth interventions may be used and the effectiveness of these interventions in cancer survivors is unknown. The purpose of this systematic review was to compare the various telehealth interventions used to improve physical activity and adherence in cancer survivors. MATERIALS/METHODS: An electronic database search of PubMed, MEDLINE, and CINAHL was performed to examine telehealth interventions used to influence physical activity levels in adult cancer survivors. Study quality was assessed with the Quality Assessment Tool for Observational Cohort and Cross-Sectional Studies. RESULTS: The search yielded 952 studies of which 5 studies met inclusion and exclusion criteria. Study quality ranged from good (2) to fair (3). Sample size ranged from 31 to 339 participants, and most were female breast cancer survivors (mean age = 58.2 years). The majority of studies were telephone-based interventions (3/5) that were led by a professional interventionist. The other 2 studies used a form of Web-based intervention (Web site, app). Study duration ranged from 6 weeks to 8 months, and the mean intervention time was 17.2 weeks, with the telehealth interventions frequency between 2x/wk to 1x/mo. All studies collected data on aerobic exercise, resistance training, or both, as measures of physical activity. CONCLUSIONS: Phone call interventions, individually or as a group conference call, were most successful in improving physical activity among cancer survivors. Improvements in physical activity levels were reported; however, there were no data available to state whether aerobic exercise or resistance training improved more as the result of the telehealth interventions. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Further studies are needed to examine the effectiveness of improving physical activity levels and adherence through the use of telehealth interventions in cancer survivors.