App-Based Intervention to Promote Walking in UK Cancer Patients

Speaker: Dr Fiona Kennedy, Leeds Institute of Health Sciences

Summary: Increased moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA) can improve clinical and psychosocial outcomes for people living with and beyond cancer (LWBC). APPROACH is funded by Yorkshire Cancer Research and the grant covers both a pilot study and a full scale RCT. The pilot RCT assessed the feasibility and acceptability of trial procedures of a theory-driven app-based intervention with behavioural support focused on promoting brisk walking (a form of MVPA) in people LWBC.

Methods: In the pilot study, participants diagnosed with breast, prostate, or colorectal cancer were recruited from a single UK hospital site. Assessments at baseline and 3-months included online questionnaires, device-measured brisk walking (activPAL accelerometer) and self-reported weight and height. Participants were randomised to intervention or control (care as usual). The intervention comprised a non-cancer-specific app to promote brisk walking augmented with print information about habit formation, a walking planner, and two behavioural support telephone calls. Feasibility and acceptability of trial procedures were explored. Initial estimates for physical activity informed a power calculation for a phase III RCT.

Results: Of those medically eligible, 369/577 (64%) were willing to answer further eligibility questions and 90/148 (61%) of those eligible were enrolled. Feasibility outcomes, including retention (97%), assessment completion rates (>86%) and app download rates in the intervention group (96%), suggest that the trial procedures are acceptable, and that the intervention is feasible. The phase III RCT will require 472 participants to be randomised.

Conclusions: This pilot study demonstrates that a large trial of the brisk walking intervention with behavioural support is both feasible and acceptable to people LWBC. The phase III RCT is currently underway across Yorkshire to determine the efficacy and cost-effectiveness of the intervention.

Bio: Fiona is a Senior Research Fellow within the Behavioural Oncology research stream in Leeds Institute of Health Sciences and is currently working on a Yorkshire Cancer Research trial called APPROACH which this seminar explores. Prior to joining LIHS in 2021, she worked in Leeds Institute of Medical Research in the Patient Centred Outcomes Research Group which focused on applied healthcare research aimed at improving cancer patients’ quality of life.