Status quo of exercise participation among gastric cancer patients after radical gastrectomy and analysis of the influencing factors.

BACKGROUND:To investigate the status quo of participation in exercise among gastric cancer patients after radical gastrectomy and analyze the influencing factors. METHODS:Convenient sampling was used to conduct a questionnaire survey of 163 patients after radical gastric cancer surgery from January to December 2020. The survey content included general information, exercise participation, exercise knowledge, attitude, and social support. Descriptive statistics, single factor analysis, and multiple linear regression analysis were performed using Statistical Product and Service Solutions 24.0 (SPSS24.0, IBM, USA). RESULTS:After radical gastrectomy, the form of exercise that patients participated in was relatively simple. The average amount of exercise involved was 8.10 Mets-h/week, which was at the level of almost no exercise. Univariate analysis showed that differences in age, gender, education level, work status, main caregivers and sports knowledge, attitudes, and social support levels all led to different levels of exercise participation. Multiple linear regression analysis showed that the factors affecting the patient's level of participation in exercise included age, degree of self-care in life, attitude towards exercise after surgery, and level of social support. CONCLUSIONS:The status quo of exercise participation among gastric cancer patients after radical gastrectomy is not ideal. In this study, we found that age, level of self-care in life, sports attitude, and level of social support were the main factors affecting the exercise participation of patients. Therefore, improving patients' self-care ability, exercise attitude, and increasing social support may play an important role in improving the status quo of patients' exercise participation after radical gastric cancer surgery.