1. Impact of Exercise on Susceptibility and Severity of COVID-19 in Patients with Cancer: A Retrospective Study.
- Author
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Bliss, Joshua W, Lavery, Jessica A, Underwood, Whitney P, Chun, Su S, Fickera, Gina A, Lee, Catherine P, Corcoran, Stacie, Maloy, Molly A, Polubriaginof, Fernanda C, Kelly, Daniel W, Scott, Jessica M, Boutros, Paul C, Moskowitz, Chaya S, and Jones, Lee W
- Subjects
Lung ,Cancer ,Clinical Research ,Prevention ,Good Health and Well Being ,COVID-19 ,Exercise ,Female ,Humans ,Male ,Middle Aged ,Neoplasms ,Retrospective Studies ,SARS-CoV-2 ,Surveys and Questionnaires ,Medical and Health Sciences ,Epidemiology - Abstract
BackgroundModifiable lifestyle-related factors heighten the risk and severity of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in patients with cancer. Whether exercise lowers susceptibility or severity is not known.MethodsWe identified 944 cancer patients from Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (mean age: 64; 85% female; 78% White) completing an exercise survey before receiving a confirmed positive or negative SARS-CoV-2 test. Exercise was defined as reporting moderate-intensity ≥5 days per week, ≥30 minutes/session or strenuous-intensity ≥3 days per week, ≥20 minutes/session. Multivariable logistic regression was used to determine the relationship between exercise and COVID-19 susceptibility and severity (i.e., composite of hospital admission or death events) with adjustment for clinical-epidemiologic covariates.ResultsTwenty-four percent (230/944) of the overall cohort were diagnosed with COVID-19 and 35% (333/944) were exercisers. During a median follow-up of 10 months, 26% (156/611) of nonexercising patients were diagnosed with COVID-19 compared with 22% (74/333) of exercising patients. The adjusted OR for risk of COVID-19 was 0.65 [95% confidence interval (CI), 0.44-0.96, P = 0.03] for exercisers compared with nonexercisers. A total of 20% (47/230) of COVID-19 positive patients were hospitalized or died. No difference in the risk of severe COVID-19 as a function of exercise status was observed (P > 0.9).ConclusionsExercise may reduce the risk of COVID-19 infection in patients with a history of cancer, but not its severity.ImpactThis study provides the first data showing that exercise might lower the risk of COVID-19 in cancer patients, but further research is required.
- Published
- 2022