Feasibility and acceptability of "healthy directions" a lifestyle intervention for adults with lung cancer

ObjectiveThe aims of this feasibility study of an adapted lifestyle intervention for adults with lung cancer were to (1) determine rates of enrollment, attrition, and completion of 5 nurse-patient contacts; (2) examine demographic characteristics of those more likely to enroll into the program; (3) determine acceptability of the intervention; and (4) identify patient preferences for the format of supplemental educational intervention materials. MethodsThis study used a single-arm, pretest and posttest design. Feasibility was defined as 20% enrollment and a completion rate of 70% for 5 nurse-patient contact sessions. Acceptability was defined as 80% of patients recommending the program to others. Data was collected through electronic data bases and phone interviews. Descriptive statistics, Fisher's exact test and Wilcoxon rank sum test were used for analyses. ResultsOf 147 eligible patients, 42 (28.6%) enrolled and of these, 32 (76.2%) started the intervention and 27 (N=27/32; 84.4%; 95% CI, 67.2%-94.7%) completed the intervention. Patients who were younger were more likely to enroll in the study (P=.04) whereas there were no significant differences by gender (P=.35). Twenty-three of the 24 (95.8%) participants' contacted posttest recommended the intervention for others. Nearly equal numbers of participants chose the website (n=16, 50%) vs print (n=14, 44%). ConclusionThe intervention was feasible and acceptable in patients with lung cancer. Recruitment rates were higher and completion rates were similar as compared to previous home-based lifestyle interventions for patients with other types of cancer. Strategies to enhance recruitment of older adults are important for future research.