Health behaviours of Indigenous and non-Indigenous cancer survivors living in regional and remote geographic areas of Australia: A short report

Background:
Health behaviors are becoming increasingly recognized as important for cancer survivors in optimizing health after diagnosis. The current study aims to describe adherence to health behaviour guidelines in a sample of Indigenous and non-Indigenous cancer patients in Australia's Northern Territory.

Methods:
A structured survey collecting self-reported sociodemographic and health behaviour data was administered to a sample of cancer patients within 1 year of their cancer diagnosis at a cancer care center in Darwin, Northern Territory. Clinical data were collected via medical chart review.

Results:
In 63 participants (median age 58 years; 32% Indigenous), most met guidelines for fruit (73%), red meat (76%), and alcohol (75%) intake, whereas adherence to vegetable (10%), processed meat (33%), and physical activity (25%) guidelines was low. Almost one-third (32%) reported being current smokers. Indigenous patients more frequently met guidelines than non-Indigenous patients for fruit intake and physical activity, and less for vegetable, red and processed meat, alcohol intake and smoking. Although there were some notable changes post-cancer diagnosis, about half of the participants reported no change in most behaviors.

Conclusions:
Adherence to some recommended health behaviors was poor in this sample, regardless of Indigenous status, reflecting previous cancer survivorship and general national reports. For some this may be due to changes resulting from their cancer and treatment, whereas for others this may reflect pre-diagnosis low adherence. Further investigation is needed to better understand health behaviour decision-making for cancer patients and survivors in Northern Territory, to inform public health messaging and interventions for this population.