Objective: To examine predictors of adherence in a randomized controlled trial of resistance exercise training (RET) in prostate cancer survivors receiving androgen deprivation therapy.
Study design and setting: A randomized controlled trial conducted at fitness centers in Ottawa and Edmonton, Canada. Prostate cancer survivors (n=155) completed measures of social cognitive variables, quality of life (QOL), behavior, and fitness before being randomized to either an exercise (n=82) or control (n=73) group. The exercise group was asked to perform supervised RET three times per week for 12 weeks.
Results: The exercise group attended 28.2 of the 36 (78.3%) RET sessions. Univariate analyses revealed eight different significant (Ps <.05) predictors of exercise adherence including exercise stage of change, intention, age, QOL, fatigue, subjective norm, leg-press test, and perceived behavioral control. A multivariate analysis indicated that there were three independent predictors of adherence that explained 20.4% of the variance: exercise stage of change (beta=0.26; P=.013), age (beta=-0.22; P=.037), and intention (beta=0.19; P=.073).
Conclusion: Exercise adherence in the trial was very good but not optimal. Adherence was predicted by variables from many different categories including social cognitive, QOL, behavioral, fitness, and demographic. These findings may have important implications for maximizing adherence during clinical trials of exercise in prostate cancer survivors.