Assessing the physical activity of parents of children suffering from cancer

A cross-sectional study

Bibliographic Data

ID15375908
AuthorsCarolin Ohnmacht (University Medical Center Freiburg, corresponding author), Charlotte M Niemeyer (0000-0003-3856-7937, University Medical Center Freiburg), Antonia Pahl (0000-0002-1531-1106, University of Freiburg), Albert Gollhofer (0009-0006-8172-4693, University of Freiburg), Alexander Puzik (0000-0003-1432-5183, University Medical Center Freiburg)
Year2025
Volume25
Issue1
Pages3969-3969
Publication date2025-11-17
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueBMC Public Health (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1471-2458 • E-ISSN: 1471-2458
PublisherBioMed Central (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1186/s12889-025-25455-5
PMID41250056
OpenAlexW4416298599
LanguageEN
References cited32

Regular physical activity (PA) is essential for biopsychosocial health, but reduced PA during therapy for childhood cancer increases the burden of long-term side effects. Cancer and its therapy determine the everyday life of affected families, and parents spend plenty of time with their child in the hospital. Thus, we assumed that the restriction of the movement environment affects the parents’ PA-behavior. Meanwhile, parents have a pronounced influence on their child’s PA-behavior. Therefore, we investigated self-reported PA and sitting time (ST) of parents before and during their child’s cancer therapy. Forty parents provided their consent and participated in the study between September 2021 and February 2022. Parental PA and ST were reported before and during their child’s cancer therapy in a cross-sectional design using the International Physical Activity Questionnaire-Short Form (IPAQ-SF). The questionnaire was supplemented with questions dealing with attitude towards exercise, physical status of the parents and prerequisites for movement therapy. Analysis of variance was applied using IBM SPSS Statistics. The Ethics Committee of the University of Freiburg approved the study. The self-reported parents’ PA-levels before their child’s diagnosis corresponded to reference values for healthy adults. During their child’s therapy, all reported dimensions of parental daily PA and the number of Metabolic Equivalent of Task (MET)-minutes of PA per week decreased significantly. Especially during inpatient stays, PA declined (mean ± SD: from 3004.5 ± 2301.4 to 889.1 ± 1585.1; p < 0.001), with a significant increase in ST in minutes per workday (mean ± SD: from 329.3 ± 196.6 to 687.8 ± 268.8; p < 0.001). In addition, 45% of the parents reported about new physical complaints since their child’s cancer diagnosis and 92.5% could imagine taking part in an exercise program. The findings of this retrospective, cross-sectional questionnaire study suggest that parental PA declines during a child’s cancer therapy. Nearly half of the parents reported new physical complaints since their child’s cancer diagnosis. To counteract these health hazards, future exercise programs in pediatric oncology should include parents to promote their own health and to enable them to act as role models for their children. German Register of Clinical Trials No.: DRKS00026248, prospectively registered on 17/09/2021

Biopsychosocial model · Biostatistics · Cancer · Childhood cancer · Metabolic equivalent · Pediatric cancer · Physical activity · Public health · Sitting · Cancer survivorship and care · Childhood Cancer Survivors' Quality of Life · Lymphatic System and Diseases

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