Psychological and social determinants of physical activity from diagnosis to remission among French cancer patients (PERTINENCE): protocol for a mixed-method study

BACKGROUND: Many effective physical activity (PA) interventions have focused on individual factors or a single theoretical model, limiting our understanding of the determinants of PA practice and their interactions in the cancer trajectory. The present mixed-method study aims to capture social and psychological determinants of PA practice from diagnosis to remission among cancer patients, and to identify key levers for PA practice. METHODS/DESIGN: A nested sequential mixed-method design QUAN (QUAL+QUAL) will be used, with qualitative studies embedded in the quantitative study to broaden our understanding of the determinants of PA practice. The design is sequential, since qualitative data on medical staff will be collected before patient inclusion (Phase 1), followed by quantitative patient data collection lasting one year (Phase 2) and a final qualitative data collection one year after inclusion (Phase 3). Phase 1 will be a case study in the two hospitals involved in the study, exploring knowledge of and support for PA practice among medical staff. Through interviews and documental analyses, the PA support dynamic will be evaluated with regard to PA prescription. Phase 2 will be a one-year observational study among 693 cancer patients. Quantitative medical, social, dispositional and psychological data, PA practices and preferences, will be collected at diagnosis, and six months and one year thereafter. Phase 3 will be a retrospective study, evaluating societal and policy factors, as well as unexpected factors playing a role in PA levels and preferences among cancer patients. For this phase thirty patients will be identified six months after inclusion on the basis of their PA profiles. Quantitative data will provide the main dataset, whilst qualitative data will complete the picture, enabling determinants of PA practice and their interactions to be captured throughout the cancer trajectory. DISCUSSION: The present study aims to identify key levers and typical trajectories for PA practice among cancer patients, adapted to different times in the course of cancer and taking into account “what works”, “for whom”, “where” and “how”. The challenge is the tailoring of PA interventions to patients at different times in their cancer trajectory, and the implication of medical staff support. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Clinical Trial NCT03919149, 18 April 2019. Prospectively registered.