Abstract
Testicular cancer (TC) is the most prevalent male cancer diagnosed in young men (aged 15-39). High survival rates have resulted in a growing population of survivors in need of supportive care, however, engagement from men has been low. This may be due to a lack of age appropriate, gender-sensitive, and targeted initiatives. One way to engage men is through sport, which has been successfully leveraged in non-cancer populations as a gender-sensitive platform for providing targeted initiatives. Yet little is known about TC survivors' behaviours, preferences, and enablers and barriers to engaging in physical activity and supportive care. This study aimed to address this knowledge gap by surveying TC survivors during routine oncology visits. TC survivors (N=60, Mage = 32.45, SD = 8.55 years) reported being active (71% meeting recommended guidelines), had a history of sport participation (98%), and were interested in engaging in a sport-based supportive care program (69%). Mental health was perceived as 'good' or 'very good' by 75.5% of survivors, however, 76% reported distress in three or more survivorship areas (e.g. fear of recurrence). Lack of access to facilities, information, programming, and support were reported as main barriers to engagement. Descriptive statistics and Pearsons r correlations will be presented to characterize the sample and describe relationships between individual characteristics, physical activity preferences, and reported enablers and barriers. Study findings will inform the development of a TC specific supportive care program that is age appropriate, gender sensitive, and evidence based, aimed at addressing the survivorship needs of TC survivors.
