Detailed methods of two home-based vegetable gardening intervention trials to improve diet, physical activity, and quality of life in two different populations of cancer survivors

摘要

Currently, there are nearly 14.5 million cancer survivors in the United States [ 1 ]. The largest subsets of these survivors are breast cancer survivors (approximately 22% of survivors) and/or survivors over the age of 60 years (72% of survivors) [1 ]. While more individuals are surviving cancer, the disease and adverse treatment sequelae are contributing to the increased burden of illness, decreased length and quality of survival, and greater healthcare costs [2]. In women diagnosed with breast cancer, physical function decreases post-diagnosis and remains lower than pre-cancer physical function levels 10 years later [3]. Similarly, those diagnosed at an older age (i.e., >60 years old), often experience greater declines in physical functioning with impaired recovery [4,51.