Abstract Purpose The extent to which exercise promotion (discussion and/or referral) barriers and facilitators in the care of breast cancer survivors differ across healthcare professions is currently unclear. This study aimed to describe differences in barriers and facilitators based on profession. Methods Healthcare providers (oncologists/primary care physicians, cancer exercise-related professionals, allied healthcare providers) who had cared for breast cancer survivors aged ≥ 35-years in the past year participated in an online survey regarding cancer survivor exercise promotion barriers and facilitators. Prevalence ratios (PR) comparing differences in agreement for barriers and facilitators across professions were computed using Modified Poisson regression models. Results Data were collected from 177 providers, including oncologists / primary care physicians (n = 68, 38.4%), exercise-related professionals (n = 67, 37.9%), and allied healthcare providers (n = 42, 23.7%). Differences were found across professions. For instance, compared with exercise-related professionals, oncologists / primary care physicians had a higher prevalence of agreement that limited time to discuss exercise (PR = 1.48, 95%CI:1.12–1.94), exercise being medically unsafe for patients (PR = 1.62, 95%CI:1.06–2.49), and not being convinced of the exercise and cancer outcomes literature (PR = 2.00, 95%CI:1.03–3.91) were barriers to exercise promotion. Conclusions Exercise promotion barriers and facilitators appear to differ across professions. Exercise-related professionals appear to be less constrained by a lack of time and concerns about the safety of exercise, while oncologists appear unconvinced of exercise and cancer outcome evidence. Implications for Cancer Survivors Exercise promotion efforts should consider the available time and competing responsibilities of each survivorship care team member, and better disseminate information regarding the safety and benefits of exercise to mitigate the risk of healthcare providers being unaware.
Wilson et al. (Fri,) studied this question.