Physical activity of cancer survivors who participated in 2014 Warsaw International Onco-Olympics

Introduction: This study sought to identify and analyse the ranges, determinants and differences in physical activity levels of athletes with cancer. Materials and methods: The analysis included questionnaire responses provided by 169 out of 210 participants of the Onco-Olympics (80 out of 92 girls and 89 out of 118 boys). The mean age was 13.05 years for girls and 13.08 years for boys. The study group consisted of the following participants: 62 girls and 69 boys from Poland, 6 girls and 4 boys from Lithuania, 4 girls and 8 boys from Romania and 8 girls and 8 boys from Ukraine. The International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ) was used in the study. Results: Girls demonstrated lower levels of vigorous (3.56 days per week, 88 minutes per day) and moderate (3.61 days per week, 96.5 minutes per day) physical activity than boys (3.91 days per week, 99.35 minutes per day, and 4.20 days per week, 103.7 minutes per day, respectively). Walking time per week was 16.18 hours for girls and 15.91 hours for boys, while sitting time per week was 5.17 hours for girls and 5.57 hours for boys. Athletes with neuroblastoma and bone cancer displayed the highest levels of vigorous and moderate physical activity, while its lower levels were found in athletes with leukemia, lymphoma and solid tumors. Physical activity levels differed depending on the type of cancer. Conclusions: Physical activity of Polish athletes with cancer does not depend on their sex, age in the examined range, body mass, body height or the BMI but it depends on the type of cancer. Drawing on the example of the group of athletes under investigation, it is reasonable to assume that recommended physical activity levels (expressed in MET - minutes per week) ought to be different for persons with different types of oncological diseases.