EXERCISING TOGETHER for Couples Coping With Cancer

EXERCISING TOGETHER © for Couples Coping With Cancer

The Exercising Together trial is a single-blind, parallel group, randomized controlled trial comparing 3 arms: Arm 1 (experimental): Exercising Together where couples perform partnered exercise in a supervised, group setting versus two comparator conditions where survivors and partners perform exercise routines separately in either a supervised group setting (Arm 2) or unsupervised at home (Arm 3). All three arms will train for a 6-month period and then be followed 6 months later. Data will be collected at baseline, 3, 6 and 12 months.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Malignant Solid Neoplasm; Anatomic Stage I Breast Cancer AJCC v8; Anatomic Stage II Breast Cancer AJCC v8; Anatomic Stage III Breast Cancer AJCC v8; Breast Carcinoma; Colorectal Carcinoma; Prostate Carcinoma; Stage I Prostate Cancer AJCC v8; Stage II Prostate Cancer AJCC v8; Stage III Prostate Cancer AJCC v8; Stage III Colorectal Cancer AJCC v8; Stage I Colorectal Cancer AJCC v8; Stage II Colorectal Cancer AJCC v8
• Intervention / Treatment: Other: Questionnaire Administration; Other: Informational Intervention; Behavioral: Exercise Intervention (supervised); Behavioral: Exercise Intervention (unsupervised)

Detailed Description

PRIMARY OBJECTIVES:

I. Determine the efficacy of Exercising Together on relationship quality (intimacy, communication and incongruence) in couples coping with prostate cancer (PC), breast cancer (BC), or colorectal cancer (CRC).

II. Determine the efficacy of Exercising Together on the physical health (body composition, lipids, insulin resistance, blood pressure, inflammation, and physical function) and mental health (anxiety, depressive symptoms, fear of recurrence) of both the survivor and spouse/partner.

III. Determine how long individual and couple-level benefits from Exercising Together last.

EXPLORATORY OBJECTIVE:

I. Identify the types of couples that benefit most from Exercising Together.

OUTLINE: Study is a 3-group, 12-month (6 months of exercise training + 6-months follow-up) randomized trial.

ARM I: Exercising Together Program: Couples perform partnered exercise over 1 hour, 2 days per week in a supervised, group setting.

ARM II: Exercising Together Program: Survivors and spouses/partners perform exercise routines separately in a supervised group setting

ARM III: Survivors and partners undergo 2 training sessions over 1 hour with an exercise trainer and then perform exercise routines over 1 hour 2 days per week separately unsupervised at home or a facility following an instructional digital video disc (DVD).

The basic training program for all three study arms is a functional strength training program. Participants will use free weights (weighted vest, dumbbells, elastic bands) while performing lower body (chair rises, squats, lunges, stepups) and upper body (1-arm row, bench press, push-ups, triceps extension, bicep curls, shoulder raise) resistance exercise. Volume of resistance exercise, determined by intensity (weight, tailored to each individual) and duration (number of repetitions and sets), is gradually increased from low weight and high repetitions to more weight and fewer repetitions over the training period.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 496
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • Oregon
    • Portland, Oregon, United States, 97239
      • OHSU Knight Cancer Institute

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 35 years to 80 years (Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• SURVIVORS ONLY:
• Histologically confirmed PC, BC or CRC without evidence of metastatic disease (confirmed by self-report on Health History Questionnaire. In the case a participant isn't able to confirm this criterion, a letter will be sent to his or her physician)
• Three years or less from diagnosis date, by month and year, at time of enrollment (confirmed by self-report on Health History Questionnaire. In the case a participant isn't able to confirm this criterion, a letter will be sent to his or her physician)
• Completed treatment (e.g., surgery, radiation and/or chemotherapy) >= 6 weeks prior to enrollment. Concurrent adjuvant hormone therapy is permitted and must have been initiated >= 6 weeks prior to enrollment. For prostate cancer, androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) may constitute primary treatment and must have been initiated >= 6 weeks prior to enrollment. For breast cancer, hormone therapy may constitute primary treatment and must have been initiated >= 6 weeks prior to enrollment. (confirmed by self-report on Health History Questionnaire. In the case a participant isn't able to confirm this criterion, a letter will be sent to his or her physician)
• Co-residing with an intimate partner or spouse who is willing to participate (confirmed by self-report on Health History Questionnaire)
• SURVIVORS AND SPOUSES/PARTNERS:
• Underactive (< 2 strength training sessions per week, lasting 30 minutes or more per session, at a moderate intensity in the last month) (confirmed by self-report on Health History Questionnaire or by discretion of the principal investigator)

Exclusion Criteria:

• SURVIVORS AND SPOUSES/PARTNERS
• Cognitive difficulties that preclude answering the survey questions, participating in the exercise classes or performance tests, or providing informed consent as determined by the professional opinion of the principal investigator, Dr. Kerri Winters-Stone
• A medical condition, movement or neurological disorder, or medication use that contraindicates participation in moderate intensity exercise. Specific contraindications include the following: declared pregnancy, poorly controlled diabetes, recent cardiac event, neuromuscular disease, untreated orthostatic hypertension, recent surgery, acute hernia, acute rheumatoid arthritis, severe memory disorders, severe balance disorder, inability to ambulate (use of an assistive device permitted), inability to stand for 3 minutes, severe hearing or vision problem. (For Survivor: Confirmed by physician clearance; For Spouse/Partner: must answer 'No' to American College of Sports Medicine pre-participation screening questions. If spouse/partner answers 'Yes' to either question they will be considered eligible upon physician clearance. Physician clearance may also be requested at the discretion of the principal investigator. For either: absence of pregnancy in persons who could possibly be pregnant but have not declared a pregnancy at screening, will be further screened with a pregnancy test administered at each testing visit.)
• Knowingly unable to attend > 75% of the intervention classes due to conflict with the designated time of day, days of the week, and/or location for the exercise class which they initially enrolled. (Confirmed by documentation in the Case Report Form titled "CRF - Participant Contact Info_Exercising Together")
• Not fluent in English and therefore incapable of answering survey questions, participating in class, following directions during performance testing, and providing informed consent when English is the language used. (Confirmed by documentation in the Case Report Form titled "CRF - Participant Contact Info_Exercising Together" or the professional opinion of the Principal Investigator, Dr. Kerri Winters-Stone.)

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Supportive Care
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: Single

Number of Arms

3

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Arm I (supervised exercise together); Couples perform partnered exercise over 1 hour, 2 days per week in a supervised, group setting remotely for 6 months.	Other: Questionnaire Administration; Ancillary studies; Behavioral: Exercise Intervention (supervised); Complete supervised exercise
Experimental: Arm II (supervised exercise separately); Survivors and partners perform exercise routines over 1 hour, 2 days per week separately in a supervised group setting remotely for 6 months.	Other: Questionnaire Administration; Ancillary studies; Behavioral: Exercise Intervention (supervised); Complete supervised exercise
Experimental: Arm III (unsupervised exercise separately); Survivors and partners undergo 2 training sessions remotely over 1 hour with an exercise trainer and then perform exercise routines over 1 hour, 2 days per week unsupervised at home or a facility following an instructional DVD.	Other: Questionnaire Administration; Ancillary studies; Other: Informational Intervention; Receive instructional DVD; Behavioral: Exercise Intervention (unsupervised); Complete unsupervised exercise

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Dyadic Coping - Active Engagement	Measured by the Active Engagement subscale from the Relationship Focused Coping Scale. The subscale assesses the degree with which couples practice active engagement by responding to five items on a Likert scale from 1 (never) to 5 (very often). Scores range from 5 to 25, with higher scores indicating more active engagement. Reported values reflect the estimated slope over 6-months.	Baseline, 3, 6 and 12 months
Dyadic Coping - Protective Buffering	Measured by the Protective Buffering Subscale from the Relationship Focused Coping Scale. Assesses the degree with which couples practice protective buffering by responding to six items using a Likert scale of 1 (never) to 5 (very often). Scores range from 6 to 30 with higher scores indicating more protective buffering. Reported values reflect the estimated slope over 6-months.	Baseline, 3, 6, and 12 months
Emotional Intimacy	Measured by the 7-item Dyadic Adjustment Scale (DAS) to assess each partner's satisfaction with their relationship by answering 7 questions on a 6-point scale ranging from 1(always agree) to 6 (always disagree). Scores range from 0-21 with higher scores indicating better dyadic adjustment. Reported values reflect the estimated slope over 6-months.	Baseline, 3, 6 and 12 months
Physical Intimacy - Engagement in Sex	Measured by the Physical Intimacy Behavior scale which asks participants the frequency that they engage in sexual behaviors answering two questions on a scale from 1 (none of the time) to 4 (most or all of the time). Scores range from 2 to 8 with higher scores indicating higher physical intimacy.	Baseline, 3, 6 and 12 months
Physical Intimacy - Engagement in Affectionate Behaviors	Measured by the Physical Intimacy Behavior scale which asks participants the frequency that they engage in affectionate behaviors answering four questions on a scale from 1 (none of the time) to 4 (most or all of the time). Scores range from 4 to 16 with higher scores indicating higher physical intimacy.	Baseline, 3, 6, and 12-months
Concealment of Symptoms	Measured by the Emotional-Intimacy Disruptive Behavior Scale. Patients report the extent to which they engage in 8 behaviors using a scale from 1 (rarely or none of the time) to 4 (most or all of the time). Scores range from 8-32 where higher scores indicate more concealment Reported values reflect the estimated slope over 6-months.	Baseline, 3, 6 and 12 months
Pain Incongruence - Pain Intensity	Measured by the degree of agreement (change or difference) between the survivor and partner ratings of the survivor's pain using the Brief Pain Inventory (BPI). This instrument has 2 subscales, pain intensity and pain interference. Values from items within each subscale are averaged together to yield scores 0-10. Low values indicate "no pain" and high values represent "pain as bad as you can imagine". Reported values reflect the estimated slope over 6-months.	Baseline, 3, 6 and 12 months
Pain Incongruence - Pain Interference	Measured by the degree of agreement (difference) between the survivor and partner ratings of the survivor's pain using the Brief Pain Inventory (BPI). This instrument has 2 subscales, pain intensity and pain interference. Values from items within each subscale are averaged together to yield scores 0-10. Low values indicate "no pain" and high values represent "pain as bad as you can imagine". Reported values reflect the estimated slope over 6-months.	Baseline, 3, 6 and 12 months
Fatigue Incongruence	Measured by the degree of agreement (difference) between the survivor and partner ratings of the survivor's fatigue in the past 7 days using the Functional Assessment in Chronic Illness Therapy (FACIT) fatigue questionnaire. This instrument has 13 items, and possible scores from 0 to 52. Low values indicate no fatigue, while high values indicate high fatigue. Reported values reflect the estimated slope over 6-months.	Baseline, 3, 6 and 12 months
Perceived Physical Function Incongruence	Measured by the degree of agreement (difference) between the survivor and partner ratings of the survivor's physical function in the past 4 weeks using the perceived physical function subscale of the SF-36 medical outcomes survey. Possible scores range from 0-100. Low scores indicate a high degree of limitation in performing physical activities, whereas high scores represent no limitations in performing physical activities due to health. Reported values reflect the estimated slope over 6-months.	Baseline, 3, 6 and 12 months

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Inflammation-hsCRP	Measured by serum levels of high sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP) obtained from a fasting blood sample.	Baseline, 3, 6 and 12 months
Body Composition - Bone-free Lean Mass	Measured by bone-free lean (kg) for the whole body determined from a whole body dual energy x-ray absorptiometry (DXA) (Hologic-QDR Discovery Wi; APEX software, v.4.02) scan.	Baseline, 3, 6 and 12 months
Body Composition - Fat Mass	Measured by fat mas (kg) for the whole body determined from a whole body dual x-ray absorptiometry (DXA) (Hologic-QDR Discovery Wi; APEX software, v.4.02) scan.	Baseline, 3, 6, and 12 months
Cardiovascular Health: Serum Cholesterol	Measured by serum fasting total cholesterol.	Baseline, 3, 6 and 12 months
Cardiovascular Health: Serum Triglycerides	Measured by serum triglycerides.	Baseline, 3, 6, and 12 months
Cardiovascular Health: Insulin Resistance	Measured by Homeostasis Model Assessment - Insulin Resistance (HOMA-IR) - used to assess insulin sensitivity and predict the risk of type 2 diabetes and other metabolic disorders. Calculated as the product of glucose and insulin, obtained from a fasting blood sample, divided by a constant, 405. Scores generally range from 0.5 to 2.5, with lower scores indicating better insulin sensitivity and higher scores suggesting higher insulin resistance. A HOMA-IR score of 1.0 or less is considered optimal, while scores above 2.9 may indicate significant insulin resistance. Reported values reflect the estimated slope over 6-months. (Glucose mg/dL * insulin uIU/ml) / 405	Baseline, 3, 6 and 12 months
Cardiovascular Health: Resting Systolic Blood Pressure	Measured by the average of three consecutive resting blood pressure measurements (systolic and diastolic pressures).	Baseline, 3, 6 and 12 months
Cardiovascular Health: Resting Diastolic Blood Pressure	Measured by the average of three consecutive resting blood pressure measurements (systolic and diastolic pressures).	Baseline, 3, 6, 12 months
Inflammation-TNF Alpha	Measured by serum levels of tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF alpha) obtained from a fasting blood sample.	Baseline, 3, 6 and 12 months
Objective Physical Function	Measured by the Physical Performance Battery (PPB) to determine a person's ability to perform daily tasks independently. The PPB consists of 3 timed tests: 5 repeated chair stands, standing balance, and gait speed over 4 meters. Each test is scored 0 (unable) to 4 (completes without difficulty), based on quartiles of performance, then scores are summed. The possible range of scores is 0-12.	Baseline, 3, 6 and 12 months
Quality of Life (QOL): QLQ-C30 - Physical Functioning	Measures QOL in cancer patients including subscales of physical functioning. Scores range from 0-100 for overall QOL and subscales where higher scores indicate better functioning.	Baseline, 3, 6 and 12 months
Quality of Life (QOL): QLQ-C30 - Emotional Functioning	Measures QOL in cancer patients including subscales of emotional functioning. Scores range from 0-100 for overall QOL and subscales where higher scores indicate better functioning.	Baseline, 3, 6, 12 months
Quality of Life (QOL): SF-36 Physical Function Subscale	The SF-36 measures quality of life using 8 subscales: perceived physical function, role limitations due to physical problems, social functioning, bodily pain, general mental health, role limitations due to emotional problems, vitality, and general health perceptions. All subscales have possible scores from 0-100, with items from each subscale averaged together. Low scores indicate worse physical functioning, while higher scores indicate better physical functioning.	Baseline, 3, 6 and 12 months
Depressive Symptoms: CES-D	Measured by the Center for Epidemiological Studies-Depression (CES-D) scale to determine the degree of depressive symptoms. Scores range from 0-60, with higher scores indicating more symptoms that occur at higher frequencies.	Baseline, 3, 6 and 12 months
Anxiety: PROMIS Anxiety Short Form	Measured by the Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) anxiety short form 8a, using T score, standardized to mean = 50, SD = 10. Possible range for this short form is 37.1-83.1. Higher T scores reflect higher anxiety. Reported values reflect the estimated slope over 6-months.	Baseline, 3, 6 and 12 months
Fear of Recurrence	Measured by the Fear of Recurrence scale to assess the amount of concern survivors have about their cancer returning in the future. Participants respond to 22 questions ranging from 1 (strongly agree) to 5 (strongly disagree). The possible range is 22-110. Higher scores reflect higher fear. Reported values reflect the estimated slope over 6-months.	Baseline, 3, 6 and 12 months

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: OHSU Knight Cancer Institute
• Collaborators: National Cancer Institute (NCI); Oregon Health and Science University
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Kerri Winters-Stone, OHSU Knight Cancer Institute

Publications and helpful links

General Publications

• Winters-Stone KM, Boisvert C, Li F, Lyons KS, Beer TM, Mitri Z, Meyers G, Eckstrom E, Campbell KL. Delivering exercise medicine to cancer survivors: has COVID-19 shifted the landscape for how and who can be reached with supervised group exercise? Support Care Cancer. 2022 Mar;30(3):1903-1906. doi: 10.1007/s00520-021-06669-w. Epub 2021 Nov 6.
• Winters-Stone KM, Lyons KS, Dieckmann NF, Lee CS, Mitri Z, Beer TM. Study protocol for the Exercising Together(c) trial: a randomized, controlled trial of partnered exercise for couples coping with cancer. Trials. 2021 Aug 30;22(1):579. doi: 10.1186/s13063-021-05548-3.

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): January 18, 2019
• Primary Completion (Actual): January 1, 2024
• Study Completion (Actual): March 31, 2024

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: August 3, 2018
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: August 9, 2018
• First Posted (Actual): August 14, 2018

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Estimated): July 1, 2025
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: June 12, 2025
• Last Verified: June 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Urogenital Diseases; Genital Diseases; Genital Neoplasms, Male; Urogenital Neoplasms; Neoplasms by Site; Neoplasms; Genital Diseases, Male; Prostatic Diseases; Male Urogenital Diseases; Intestinal Diseases; Neoplasms by Histologic Type; Gastrointestinal Neoplasms; Digestive System Neoplasms; Digestive System Diseases; Gastrointestinal Diseases; Intestinal Neoplasms; Rectal Diseases; Neoplasms, Glandular and Epithelial; Colonic Diseases; Skin Diseases; Breast Diseases; Prostatic Neoplasms; Carcinoma; Colorectal Neoplasms; Breast Neoplasms
• Other Study ID Numbers: STUDY00018000 (Other Identifier: OHSU Knight Cancer Institute); NCI-2018-01404 (Registry Identifier: CTRP (Clinical Trial Reporting Program)); R01CA218093 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: YES
• IPD Plan Description: All individual quantitative participant data collected during the trial, after deidentification.
• IPD Sharing Time Frame: Beginning 3 months following final publication.

IPD Sharing Access Criteria

Access will be provided to investigators who provide a methodologically sound proposal and complete a data sharing agreement that includes commitments to: (1) using the data only for research purposes and not to identify any individual participant, (2) securing the data using appropriate computer technology, and (3) destroying or returning the data after analyses are completed.

Proposals should be directed to wintersk@ohsu.edu. To gain access to data, data requestors will need to sign a data sharing agreement.

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No
• product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.: No