Feasibility and preliminary efficacy of an exercise telephone counseling intervention for hematologic cancer survivors: a phase II randomized controlled trial

James R. Vallerand, Ryan E. Rhodes, Gordon J. Walker, Kerry S. Courneya

Supervised exercise interventions produce the largest improvements in patient-reported outcomes in cancer survivors but their scalability has been questioned. Telephone counseling has been proposed as a more feasible alternative but its impact on exercise behavior and health outcomes have been modest. Basing telephone counseling exercise (TCE) interventions on the theoretical advances described in the multi-process action control framework (M-PAC) may improve these outcomes. To assess the feasibility and preliminary efficacy of a M-PAC-based TCE intervention for increasing aerobic exercise behavior in hematologic cancer survivors (HCS). We recruited 51 HCS who were randomized to either a weekly TCE group (n = 26) or a self-directed exercise (SDE) group (n = 25). Participants completed online measures of self-reported aerobic exercise behavior, quality of life (QoL), fatigue, and program satisfaction at baseline and post-intervention (12 weeks). Adherence to the TCE intervention was 93% and retention was 100%. Participants receiving TCE increased their weekly aerobic exercise by 218 min compared to 93 min in the SDE group [mean-adjusted between-group difference (MBGDadj) = 139, 95%CI = 65 to 213, p < .001, effect size (d) = 2.19]. Clinically meaningful QoL improvements favored the TCE group for mental health (MBGDadj = 3.7, 95%CI = - 0.4 to 7.9, p = .08, d = 0.42) and mental health component (MBGDadj = 3.6, 95%CI = - 0.8 to 8.1, p = .10, d = 0.35) subscales. The 12-week TCE intervention substantially increased exercise behavior and may have meaningfully improved QoL in HCS. Though more definitive trials are needed, remote TCE interventions based on the M-PAC may improve exercise behavior and QoL in HCS and perhaps other cancer survivor groups. Clinical Trials ID: NCT03052777.