Recorded presentation

Lorna Finnegan, PhD, APN, College of Nursing, University of Illinois at Chicago, 845 South Damen, MC 802, Chicago, IL 60612, 312-996-1668, lornaf@uic.edu

More than 270,000 Americans are childhood cancer survivors, two thirds of whom will experience late effects of their cancer treatments. Some late effects could be ameliorated by increased physical activity. The specific aim of this pilot study is to examine the feasibility of using web-based instruments, which measure important determinants of physical activity adoption, in 50 young adults who are survivors of childhood cancer.

In this descriptive, cross-sectional study, young adult survivors will respond to a web-based survey, which contains demographic and health-related variables, measures of self-determination, self-efficacy, decisional balance, health-related worries, physical activity stages of change, and feasibility assessment questions. Sample inclusion criteria are: self-reported cancer diagnosis; age less than 21 at time of diagnosis; ability to specify type of cancer; at least 2 years beyond completion of cancer therapy; current age between 18 and 39 years; English speaking, reading, and writing as a primary language; and access to the Internet.

Survivors will be recruited through cancer-related web sites, listservs, chat rooms, and a project web site. Recruitment flyers will also be posted in long-term survivor clinics. Descriptive data analysis will focus on survey completion time, completeness of data, instrument reliability and variability, and online survey acceptability. The results will be used to refine the instruments and survey methodology for subsequent intervention studies, which will test the effectiveness of a computerized, tailored physical activity program. This program has the potential to augment public health nursing practice and impact the health of large groups of cancer survivors.

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