Nancy E. Avis

Background: Midlife health and psychosocial status impact health-related quality of life (HRQL), but few studies have examined these associations from midlife to older adulthood. The current analyses aimed to (1) identify HRQL trajectories in women from midlife to older adulthood, (2) determine factors associated with HRQL trajectories, and (3) examine whether these associations change over time. Materials and Methods: We analyzed the 36-Item Short Form Health Survey Physical (PCS) and Mental Component Summaries (MCS) from 2002 to 2023 (ages 48–79 years) in 2,636 women from The Study of Women’s Health Across the Nation (SWAN). We used locally weighted scatterplot smoothing to estimate PCS and MCS mean trajectories as a function of age and group-based trajectory models to identify trajectory subgroups. Associations between trajectory group membership and sociodemographic, health-related, menopausal, lifestyle and anthropometric, and psychosocial variables were estimated through mixed-effects models. Results: Mean PCS declined 6.6 points (51.6–45), and MCS increased 3.0 points (50–53) with age. We identified four PCS groups (one stable and three decreasing) and three MCS groups (two stable and one increasing). Compared to the high-stable groups, other PCS and MCS groups were associated with worse health factors. Most associations were stable over time, but financial strain worsened faster in more adverse trajectories. Positive affect and social support increased in the high-stable PCS and MCS groups, while negative affect improved faster in the low, late-increasing MCS group. Conclusions: These results extend previous research by characterizing heterogeneous HRQL trajectories and identifying potentially modifiable behavioral and health targets for physical and mental HRQL in women from midlife to older adulthood.

Purpose: To describe physical activity (PA) trajectories across 10 years post-breast cancer diagnosis and examine their association with quality of life (QoL). Methods: Participants from the longitudinal Study of Women’s Health Across the Nation who developed incident breast cancer completed the Quality of Life in Adult Cancer Survivors scale (QLACS) which has 12 domains. Breast cancer survivors (BCS) with at least one post-diagnosis measure of the Kaiser Physical Activity Survey (PA) were included (n = 96). We estimated metabolic equivalents of task minutes per week (MET-min/week) for the two most frequent sport/exercise activities. Group-based trajectory modeling determined PA trajectories over 10 years post-diagnosis. Analysis of covariance assessed associations between PA trajectory group and the three QLACS domains with the worst scores (fatigue, pain, and recurrence-related distress), adjusted for PA and other relevant covariates. Results: There were four post-diagnosis PA trajectories: consistently very low/no PA (“inactive,” 11.5%); consistently some, but below aerobic PA guideline (“below guideline,” 48.9%); generally met aerobic PA guideline with a slight decline (“met guideline,” 22.2%); and exceeded aerobic PA guideline (“exceeded guideline,” 18.8%). In adjusted models, the below guideline group reported more fatigue than the met or exceeded groups and more pain than the met guideline group, but there were no group differences in recurrence-related distress. Conclusion: The majority of BCS did not meet the aerobic PA guideline over 10 years post diagnosis. BCS who met the aerobic PA guideline reported less fatigue and pain compared to those who did not meet the guideline in adjusted analyses, suggesting a negative association between PA and QoL.

Purpose: To examine the differential effect of non- and anthracycline-based chemotherapy on fatigue over 12 months post-diagnosis among breast cancer survivors. Methods: This study is based on a prospective Wake Forest NCI Community Oncology Research Program (NCORP) multicenter cohort study (WF-97415) of women with stage I to III breast cancer and non-cancer controls. Analyses compared those: 1) receiving, or 2) not receiving anthracycline chemotherapy, 3) receiving aromatase inhibitors (AIs) without chemotherapy, with 4) a comparator group without a history of cancer. In-person clinic assessments were conducted at: baseline (prior to chemotherapy or start of AI therapy), and 3 and 12 months after baseline. The Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy-Fatigue scale was the primary outcome. Estimated least squares means by group using mixed models with a random subject effect, fixed effects of time and group, and the interaction between time and group was used to compare groups across time, controlling for age, comorbidities, and treatment variables. Results: Among 284 women (mean age = 53.4 years, sd 11.9 years), there was a significant (p < 0.0001) group by time interaction, with a sharp increase in fatigue at 3 months in the two chemotherapy groups in comparison to the non-chemotherapy and non-cancer controls. The two chemotherapy groups did not significantly differ in fatigue at any time point. Conclusion: Women with breast cancer who receive non- or anthracycline-based chemotherapy experience similar trends in and levels of fatigue within the first year of treatment and greater fatigue than women receiving AIs alone or women without breast cancer.

Purpose: To identify distinct trajectories of physical health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in older women over the first two years following breast cancer diagnosis, and to examine characteristics associated with trajectory group membership. Methods: A secondary analysis of a longitudinal study of women diagnosed with stage I-III breast cancer who completed surveys within eight months of diagnosis and six, twelve, and eighteen months later that focuses on a subset of women aged ≥ 65 years (N = 145).Physical HRQoL was assessed using the Physical Component Score (PCS) of the SF-36 Health Survey. Finite mixture modeling identified distinct PCS trajectories. Multivariable logistic regression identified variables predictive of low PCS group membership. Results: Two distinct patterns of PCS trajectories were identified. The majority (58%) of women had PCS above the age-based SF-36 population norms and improved slightly over time. However, 42% of women had low PCS that remained low over time. In multivariable analyses, older age, difficulty paying for basics, greater number of medical comorbidities, and higher body mass index were associated with low PCS group membership. Cancer treatment and psychosocial variables were not significantly associated. Conclusion: A large subgroup of older women reported very low PCS that did not improve over time. Older age, obesity, multiple comorbidities, and lower socioeconomic status may be risk factors for poorer PCS in women with breast cancer. Incorporating routine comprehensive geriatric assessments that screen for these factors may help providers identify older women at risk for poorer physical HRQoL post breast cancer treatment.

Purpose This manuscript aims to compare and contrast acceptability and perceived benefits of yoga-skills training (YST) and an empathic listening attention control (AC) in the Pro-You study, a randomized pilot trial of YST vs. AC for adults receiving chemotherapy infusions for gastrointestinal cancer. Methods Participants were invited for a one-on-one interview at week 14 follow-up, after completing all intervention procedures and quantitative assessments. Staff used a semi-structured guide to elicit participants’ views on study processes, the intervention they received, and its effects. Qualitative data analysis followed an inductive/deductive approach, inductively identifying themes and deductively guided by social cognitive theory. Results Some barriers (e.g., competing demands, symptoms), facilitators (e.g., interventionist support, the convenience of clinic-based delivery), and benefits (e.g., decreased distress and rumination) were common across groups. YST participants uniquely described the importance of privacy, social support, and self-efficacy for increasing engagement in yoga. Benefits specific to YST included positive emotions and greater improvement in fatigue and other physical symptoms. Both groups described some self-regulatory processes, but through different mechanisms: self-monitoring in AC and the mind–body connection in YST. Conclusions This qualitative analysis demonstrates that participant experiences in a yoga-based intervention or an AC condition reflect social cognitive and mind–body frameworks of self-regulation. Findings can be used to develop yoga interventions that maximize acceptability and effectiveness and to design future research that elucidates the mechanisms by which yoga is efficacious.

Purpose: To compare sexual functioning from diagnosis to 5 years post diagnosis among breast cancer survivors (BCS) and women without cancer (controls).Patients and Methods: Analyses included 118 BCS and 1765 controls from 20 years of the longitudinal Study of Women's Health Across the Nation (SWAN), a multiracial/ethnic cohort of mid‐life women assessed approximately annually from 1995 to 2015. Pink SWAN participants reported no cancer at SWAN enrollment and developed (BCS) or did not develop (controls) incident breast cancer after enrollment. Outcomes included: being sexually active or not, intercourse frequency, sexual desire, vaginal dryness, and pain with intercourse. Using longitudinal logistic regression, we compared BCS and controls on prevalence of sexual functioning outcomes with respect to years since diagnosis. In addition, we examined whether menopause transition stage, depressive symptoms, relationship satisfaction, vaginal dryness, or pain with intercourse modified the relation between breast cancer and sexual functioning outcomes.Results: Adjusting for partner status, both BCS and controls reported similar declines over time in being sexually active, sexual intercourse frequency, and sexual desire. Among sexually active women, more BCS than controls consistently reported vaginal dryness with significant differences between 2 and 4 years post‐diagnosis, and pain with intercourse, with statistically significant differences between 0.5 years post‐diagnosis to 2 years post‐diagnosis. Being post‐menopausal and reporting depressive symptoms were significant effect modifiers for pain with intercourse with both variables having positive and stronger associations with pain among the controls than among BCS.Conclusion: Except for more reporting of vaginal dryness and pain with intercourse among BCS, negative changes in sexual function during mid‐life were similar in those with and without breast cancer.

Purpose To compare sleep disturbance from 5 years pre- to 5 years post-diagnosis between breast cancer survivors (BCS) and women without cancer over the same period and to identify BCS subgroups exhibiting different sleep trajectories. Methods Analyses included data from 152 BCS and 2163 controls from 20 years of follow-up in the longitudinal Study of Women’s Health Across the Nation (SWAN), a multi-racial/ethnic cohort study. SWAN participants were assessed approximately annually from 1995 to 2015 using a standardized protocol. Pink SWAN focused on women who reported no cancer at SWAN enrollment and developed incident breast cancer after enrollment or did not develop breast cancer. Nonparametric locally weighted scatterplot smoothing plots and linear mixed models were used to compare the prevalence of the most frequently reported sleep problem, frequently waking several times a night (a sleep maintenance problem) during the previous 2 weeks, between BCS and controls in the 5 years pre- to 5 years post-diagnosis. We characterized heterogeneity among BCS on this sleep problem using group-based trajectories and examined pre-diagnosis variables as predictors of group membership. Results No differences were found between BCS and controls in prevalence of frequent nighttime awakenings either before or after diagnosis. Among BCS, three trajectory groups were identified. Thirty-seven percent of BCS had consistently low prevalence of waking several times per night, 30% had high prevalence, and 33% had increasing prevalence which started 2 years pre-diagnosis. Prevalence of pre-diagnosis vasomotor symptoms, anxiety, depressive symptoms, and smoking differed among these groups. Conclusion Among mid-aged women diagnosed with breast cancer, this diagnosis did not trigger/amplify a sleep maintenance problem. The majority of BCS had similar levels of this sleep problem from pre- to post-diagnosis. Implications for Cancer Survivors Although sleep maintenance problems were not amplified by a cancer diagnosis, a subset of BCS may have sleep issues that should be monitored and treated, as indicated.

Objective: This single-arm pilot study was designed to generate pilot data on the use of a cooling mattress pad system on vasomotor symptoms (VMS; hot flashes and/or night sweats), self-assessed sleep, and daily hot flash interference among perimenopausal and postmenopausal women. Methods: A total of 15 perimenopausal and postmenopausal women aged 45 to 59 years experiencing four or more VMS per day were recruited from the community. After completion of baseline questionnaires and a 2-week daily diary to confirm VMS eligibility, all women received a cooling mattress pad system to use at night for 8 weeks, during which time they continued to complete their daily diaries to record VMS frequency and severity. The primary study outcome was change from baseline in VMS frequency. Secondary outcomes were sleep quality, measured by the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, and hot flash interference with daily life, assessed by the Hot Flash Related Daily Interference Scale, where higher sores indicate worse sleep quality and higher interference, respectively. We used repeated-measures methods (analysis of covariance, paired t tests, and McNemar test) to evaluate outcomes. Results: VMS frequency significantly declined by 52% at 8 weeks (P < 0.0001). Mean total Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index score significantly declined 3.27 points from 11.14 at baseline to 7.87 at follow-up (P = 0.011). The total Hot Flash Related Daily Interference Scale score significantly declined from 4.16 at baseline to 1.92 at follow-up (P = 0.011). Conclusions: Women who used a cooling mattress pad system experienced significant and clinically meaningful reductions in VMS frequency, sleep disturbance, and hot flash interference with daily activities over an 8-week period. These results provide preliminary evidence suggesting that a cooling mattress pad used while sleeping can provide a nonpharmacological option to reduce VMS and sleep disturbance for women experiencing menopausal hot flashes.