Progression and predictors of physical activity levels after radical prostatectomy.

Objective To investigate the progression of all aspects (total, occupational, sports, household) of physical activity ( PA) over time after radical prostatectomy ( RP) and to find predictive factors for a decrease in PA., Patients and Methods In all, 240 men planned for open or robot-assisted RP were analysed., All patients completed the Flemish Physical Activity Computerised Questionnaire before RP concerning PA over the past year and at 6 weeks, 3, 6 and 12 months after RP for the PA of the past month., A linear model for repeated measures was used to evaluate the progression of continuous variables over time and the effect of various predictors for the progression of patients over time. A logistic regression model for repeated measures was used to evaluate binary measures., Results Total, occupational, sports and household PA levels were significantly decreased at 6 weeks after RP, but recovered quickly to approximately baseline levels from that time., Predictive factors for decreased PA levels at 6 weeks after RP were a younger age (total PA level), being unskilled/semi-skilled (occupational PA level) and being unemployed/retired (household PA level)., RP type (open vs robot-assisted) did not influence the different PA levels at 6 weeks, 3, 6 or 12 months after RP., The severity of first day incontinence and urine loss measured at 6 weeks and 3, 6 and 12 months after RP significantly affected total and/or household PA level at all time-points., Conclusions This is the first study to investigate the progression of all aspects of PA (total, occupational, sports and household) after RP and to find predictive factors for a decrease in PA., All PA levels were significantly decreased at 6 weeks after RP and recovered quickly to approximately baseline levels from that time., Patients that had robot-assisted RP did not have a faster recovery of PA than those that had open RP. Severity of first day incontinence and urine loss measured at 6 weeks and 3, 6 and 12 months after RP were significantly related to total and/or household PA level at all time-points. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]