Background:

Oncological exercise therapy (OET) can help improve various patient outcomes, including fatigue and quality of life, and in certain cancer types, progression-free and overall survival. Despite this, OET is not routinely implemented into clinical practice. A better understanding of cancer patients’ perceived barriers and facilitators to participating in OET may support its integration into routine care. This multi-center cross-sectional study investigating cancer patients’ views will help close this evidence-practice-gap.

Methods:

As part of IMPLEMENT, a nationwide OET implementation research project in Germany, an exploratory study with a quasi-experimental design was conducted using a non-representative sample of consenting cancer patients. Participants completed a survey either online or in paper format. A comprehensive descriptive analysis was conducted using SPSS and RStudio.

Results:

A total of 402 cancer patients provided a questionnaire (61% female; mean age 57 years, SD 15). The most common cancer types were breast cancer (34%), lymphoma or leukemia (12%), and colon cancer (5%). Most patients reported feeling physically (79% agreed or somewhat agreed) and mentally (85% agreed or somewhat agreed) capable of participating in OET. Motivation to engage in OET was perceived to be high (76% agreed or somewhat agreed), and patients reported having sufficient time to become physically active (83% agreed or somewhat agreed). However, only half of participants said they were offered OET by their healthcare providers (48% agreed or somewhat agreed).

Conclusion:

Our findings indicate that most cancer patients are both willing and able to participate in OET. However, they are not routinely informed about OET. Therefore, tailored strategies for improving patient access to OET are needed.

Trial registration:

Clin. Trials: NCT06496711. German Clinical Trial Register (Deutsches Register Klinischer Studien - DRKS): 00032292. Bavarian Cancer Research Center (Bayerisches Krebsforschungszentrum - BZKF resp. ZKS): DZ-2024-2165-9.