Muscle-strengthening and aerobic activities and mortality among 3+ year cancer survivors in the U.S.

Purpose: This study examined the association between adherence to American College of Sports Medicine and American Cancer Society guidelines on aerobic and muscle-strengthening activities and mortality risks among 3+ year cancer survivors in the U.S.

Methods: The observational study was based on 1999-2009 National Health Interview Survey Linked Mortality Files with follow-up through 2011. After applying exclusion criteria, there were 13,997 observations. The hazard ratios (HRs) for meeting recommendations on muscle-strengthening activities only, on aerobic activities only, and on both types of physical activity (i.e., adhering to complete guidelines) were calculated using a reference group of cancer survivors engaging in neither. Unadjusted and adjusted HRs of all-cause, cancer-specific, and cardiovascular disease-specific mortalities were estimated using Cox proportional hazards models.

Results: In all models, compared to the reference group, cancer survivors adhering to complete guidelines had significantly decreased all-cause, cancer-specific, and cardiovascular disease-specific mortalities (HRs ranged from 0.37 to 0.64, p's < 0.05). There were no statistically significant differences between hazard rates of cancer survivors engaging in recommended levels of muscle-strengthening activities only and the reference group (HRs ranged from 0.76 to 0.94, p's > 0.05). Wald test statistics suggested a significant dose-response relationship between levels of adherence to complete guidelines and cancer-specific mortality.

Conclusions: While muscle-strengthening activities by themselves do not appear to reduce mortality risks, such activities may provide added cancer-specific survival benefits to 3+ year cancer survivors who are already aerobically active.