Outcomes from the women's wellness project: a community-focused physical activity trial for women.

Background: Given the low rates of physical activity participation, innovative intervention approaches are needed to make a public health impact.

Methods: The study was conducted at the Miriam Hospital/Brown Medical School in Providence, RI, and in communities of Southeastern Massachusetts from 2002 to 2005. Previously sedentary women (n = 280; mean age = 47.

Examination of print and telephone channels for physical activity promotion: Rationale, design, and baseline data from Project STRIDE.

Background: Project STRIDE is a 4-year randomized controlled trial comparing two computer-based expert system guided intervention delivery channels (phone vs. print) for physical activity adoption and short-term maintenance among previously sedentary adults.

Methods: Sedentary adults (n=239) were randomized to one of the following (1) telephone-based, individualized motivationally-tailored feedback; (2) print-based, individualized motivationally-tailored feedback; (3) contact-control delayed treatment group (received intervention after 12 months as control).

Perceived safety of area of residence and exercise: a pan-European study.

The authors examined the association between perceived safety of neighborhood and likelihood of exercise among adult residents of eight European cities. Data were collected by a survey of neighborhood, housing, and health conducted by the World Health Organization in 2002 and 2003. Baseline category logistic regression models were fit to estimate the association between perceived safety and exercise, accounting for demographic and place-of-residence characteristics.

Home-based physical activity intervention for breast cancer patients.

Purpose: The efficacy of a home-based physical activity (PA) intervention for early-stage breast cancer patients was evaluated in a randomized controlled trial.

Patients And Methods: Eighty-six sedentary women (mean age, 53.14 years; standard deviation, 9.

Cancer screening practices among cancer survivors.

Background: Cancer survivors are more vulnerable to future cancers than individuals without cancer. As such, it is important to understand whether survivors are engaging in cancer screenings.

Methods: The screening practices reported in response to the 2000 Health Interview Survey of 2151 individuals with cancer were examined and compared to those of 30,195 individuals without cancer.

The identification of empirically derived cancer patient subgroups using psychosocial variables.

Objective: To determine if there are subgroups of cancer patients who differ on coping, psychological, and quality of life (QOL) measures, and to determine if these subgroups have a different course of distress and health following a cancer diagnosis.

Methods: Three hundred fifty-one individuals presenting to a multidisciplinary melanoma clinic completed a baseline questionnaire packet containing the Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI), the Medical Outcomes Survey Short-Form 36 (SF-36), Ways of Coping (WOC), State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI), an informed consent form, and a demographic questionnaire. Participants subsequently completed measures at 2, 5, and 9 months after completion of their baseline assessment.

Quality of life and emotional distress in advanced prostate cancer survivors undergoing chemotherapy.

Prostate cancer continues to occur in over 230,000 men each year. Although the majority of these will be diagnosed in the early stages, there remains a proportion who will either be diagnosed in late stage disease or develop progressive disease. In patients with advanced disease, research has recently focused on using chemotherapy for symptom management and palliation.

Body esteem and mood among sedentary and active breast cancer survivors.

Objectives: To assess mood states and body esteem in 2 groups of breast cancer survivors, regular exercisers and sedentary women, and to examine these variables among younger and older women in each group.

Patients And Methods: Between 1998 and 2002, we conducted a cross-sectional study among early-stage breast cancer survivors at the Miriam Hospital in Providence, RI, comparing 40 women who reported regular exercise with 79 sedentary women. We used multivariate and univariate analyses to compare the exercisers with sedentary women on fitness, physical activity, and questionnaire measures of body esteem and mood.

Psychological and fitness changes associated with exercise participation among women with breast cancer.

Exercise participation has been shown to improve cardiovascular fitness and reduce psychological distress among women receiving chemotherapy and/or radiation. The purpose of this pilot study was to examine the changes in distress and body image, and fitness following exercise participation among 24 women who had been diagnosed with breast cancer within the previous 3 years. The women were randomly assigned to participate in a 12-week supervised aerobic exercise program in a hospital setting or a wait-list control group.

Multicenter trial of fluoxetine as an adjunct to behavioral smoking cessation treatment.

The authors evaluated the efficacy of fluoxetine hydrochloride (Prozac; Eli Lilly and Company, Indianapolis, IN) as an adjunct to behavioral treatment for smoking cessation. Sixteen sites randomized 989 smokers to 3 dose conditions: 10 weeks of placebo, 30 mg, or 60 mg fluoxetine per day. Smokers received 9 sessions of individualized cognitive-behavioral therapy, and biologically verified 7-day self-reported abstinence follow-ups were conducted at 1, 3, and 6 months posttreatment.

Physician-based activity counseling: intervention effects on mediators of motivational readiness for physical activity.

In theory-based interventions for behavior change, there is a need to examine the effects of interventions on the underlying theoretical constructs and the mediating role of such constructs. These two questions are addressed in the Physically Active for Life study, a randomized trial of physician-based exercise counseling for older adults. Three hundred fifty-five patients participated (intervention n = 181, control n = 174; mean age = 65.