A randomized controlled trial of the effect of supervised exercise on functional outcomes in older African American and non-Hispanic White breast cancer survivors: Are there racial differences in the effects of exercise on functional outcomes?

Background: The objective of this study was to test the hypothesis that exercise would be more effective than a support group plus Fitbit (SG+Fitbit) program in improving functional outcomes in older breast cancer survivors (BCSs) and that race would moderate the exercise effect on outcomes.

Methods: Older African American (AA) and non-Hispanic White (NHW) BCSs were purposively recruited and enrolled into the 52-week randomized controlled trial. The interventions included 20 weeks of supervised moderate-intensity aerobic and resistance training followed by 32 weeks of unsupervised exercise called IMPROVE (n = 108) and a 20-week SG+Fitbit program followed by 32 weeks of unsupervised activity (n = 105).

IMPROVE, a community-based exercise intervention versus support group to improve functional and health outcomes among older African American and Non-Hispanic White breast cancer survivors from diverse socioeconomic backgrounds: Recruitment strategies and baseline characteristics.

Background: Behavioral intervention studies in older breast cancer survivors, particularly older African American (AA) and socioeconomic status-disadvantaged breast cancer survivors, are lacking. To inform future studies, the authors examined recruitment strategies in older breast cancer survivors who participated in an exercise intervention study.

Methods: IMPROVE is a randomized trial designed to evaluate a group-based exercise intervention versus a support group (ClinicalTrials.

IMPROVE, a community-based exercise intervention versus support group to improve functional and health outcomes among older African American and non-Hispanic White breast cancer survivors from diverse socioeconomic backgrounds: Rationale, design and methods.

Background: African Americans (AA) and socioeconomic status (SES) disadvantaged older breast cancer survivors (BCS) are more likely to experience poor functional and health outcomes. However, few studies have evaluated the putative beneficial effects of exercise on these outcomes in older racial minority and SES-disadvantaged BCS.

Methods: This is a mixed-methods study that includes a randomized-controlled trial, "IMPROVE", to evaluate a group-based exercise intervention compared to a support group program in older BCS, followed by post-intervention semi-structured interviews to evaluate the intervention.