Purpose: Rural cancer survivors are less likely to meet physical activity recommendations than urban cancer survivors. Yet, few physical activity interventions exist for rural cancer survivors. Mind Your BEAT (MYB) used a community engaged approach to adapt an evidence-based intervention for rural breast cancer survivors and for implementation in a rural community. This study explored the effects of MYB on physical function and quality of life (QOL) in rural breast cancer survivors.

Methods: The MYB intervention combined supervised aerobic and resistance exercise, provided through Kourage Health (KH, an evidence-based exercise program) with behavior change skills and mind-body strategies (e.g., mindfulness) delivered by trained research staff. Rural breast cancer survivors (N=43) were recruited through KH and randomized to participate in KH as usual (control group, n=21) or MYB (n=22). Participants completed a 30-second sit-to-stand test and self-reported physical and mental health-related QOL at four time points, weeks 0, 6 (mid-intervention), 12 (post-intervention), and 24 (follow-up). Repeated measures ANOVA was used to assess changes in physical function and physical and mental health-related QOL over time by group.

Results: Rural breast cancer survivors (M age=66.3±10.0 years) were mostly non-Hispanic (95.1%), White (86.0%), diagnosed with stage 0 (14.3%) or I-II (66.6%) breast cancer, and roughly 5 years post-treatment (M=4.8±7.0 years). MYB participants increased their number of 30-second sit-to-stand repetitions from 11.3 to 13.3 (Δ=2.1, t=2.0, p=.067), and control group participants increased their repetitions from 12.1 to 14.1 (Δ=2.3, t=3.5, p=.003). Although there was a significant time effect (F(3,102)=7.6, p<.001), there was no significant time by group effect (F(3,102)=0.1, p=.941). Participants in MYB also reported statistically significant increases in physical QOL (Δ=8.7, t=2.5, p=.021) compared to control participants (Δ=-3.6, t=-0.8, p=.437), and there was a significant time by group effect (F(3,108)=3.1, p=.029). However, there were no significant changes in mental health-related QOL.

Conclusions: MYB improved physical function and physical health-related QOL among rural breast cancer survivors. These findings fill a critical gap on the translation of evidence-based interventions into practice in rural community settings to improve cancer survivorship and reduce cancer health disparities among rural residents.