Health Behaviors of Breast Cancer Survivors with Hypertension: A Propensity Analysis of KNHANES III-V (2005-2012)

OBJECTIVE: This study examines health behaviors of breast cancer survivors with hypertension and compares them with those of non-cancer individuals with hypertension. METHODS: In this cross-sectional study, a total of 10,996 hypertensive adults (≥ 19 years) who participated in the 2005-2012 Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES) were considered. Data on alcohol consumption, smoking, physical activity, antihypertensive medication adherence, self-reported diet control, and sodium intake were collected through self-report questionnaire. A total of 64 breast cancer survivors with hypertension and 10,932 non-cancer participants with hypertension were identified. To better compare health behaviors of the two groups, 56 breast cancer survivors and 280 non-cancer participants were selected through the 1:5 nearest available matching based on estimated propensity scores. Multivariate analysis was conducted to determine any differences between the two groups. RESULTS: According to multivariate analysis, breast cancer survivors with hypertension (n = 56) were significantly less likely to consume alcohol (odds ratio (OR): 3.75; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.06-13.29) but significantly more likely to have sodium intake of more than 2400 mg (OR: 2.98; 95% CI: 1.27-6.97) than the propensity-matched control group (n = 280). There was no significant difference in other health behaviors between the two groups. CONCLUSIONS: Breast cancer survivors require active interventions for healthy behaviors related to the management of comorbid conditions such as hypertension to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease and improve their overall survival rate.