A Patient-Centered Activity Regimen Improves Participation in Physical Activity Interventions in Advanced-Stage Lung Cancer

Introduction: Physical activity (PA) is a potential therapy to improve quality of life in patients with advanced-stage lung cancer (LC), but no PA regimen has been shown to be beneficial, clinically practical, and sustainable. We sought to test the hypothesis that a patient-centered activity regimen (PCAR) will improve patient participation and PA more effectively than weekly phone calls. Methods: In patients with advanced-stage LC, we implemented a walking-based activity regimen and motivated patients via either weekly phone calls (n = 29; FitBit Zip accelerometer) or PCAR (n = 15; FitBit Flex, an educational session, and twice-daily gain-framed text messages). Data collection over a 4-week period was compared, and a repeated-measures, mixed-effects model for activity level was constructed. Results: Subjects receiving PCAR more frequently used the device (100% vs 79%) and less frequently had missing data (11% vs 38%). “More active” and “less active” groups were created based on mean step count in the first week. “Less active” patients in the PCAR group increased their PA level, whereas PA level fell in the “more active” group. Most subjects found PCAR helpful (92%) and would participate in another activity study (85%). Discussion: Compared with weekly phone calls, PCAR has higher patient participation, is more likely to improve PA in “less active” subjects, and has high patient satisfaction. A multifaceted PA regimen may be a more efficacious mechanism to study PA in advanced LC. PCAR should be used in a randomized controlled trial to evaluate for improvements in symptom burden, quality of life, and mood.