Study: COVID Has Negatively Impacted the Healthy Behaviors of Prostate Cancer Patients

The COVID-19 pandemic impacted cancer patients engaging in healthy behaviors, according to a study published in the Journal of Cancer Survivorship.

In this group, 30 patients with breast, prostate, and colorectal cancers were sampled and assessed on characteristics such as gender, time since diagnosis, and age. The population of interest took part in semi-structured interviews which focused on the impact of COVID on healthy behaviors, which were defined in this context as changes in food, weight management, relationship to alcohol, and exercise.

According to the results, the “gift of time” provided by the pandemic had a negative effect on health behaviors, resulting in increases in in drinking, eating unhealthy food, and getting less exercise.

“The COVID-19 pandemic impacted engagement in positive health behaviors among participants in this study. Strict restrictions and changes in routines resulted in individuals adjusting how they managed their diet, alcohol intake, and exercise behaviors,” the researchers concluded. They added that the “typology identified within this study helps to define how different orientation to health behaviors could underpin the responses of individual people LWBC.”