HYPOTHESIS e-ISSN 1643-3750 © Med Sci Monit, 2017; 23: 325-334 DOI: 10.12659/MSM.899816
Determination of Factors Affecting Physical Activity Status of University Students on a Health Sciences Campus
Received: 2016.05.31 Accepted: 2016.06.17 Published: 2017.01.19
Authors’ Contribution: Study Design A Data Collection B Analysis C Statistical Data Interpretation D Manuscript Preparation E Literature Search F Collection G Funds
ABCDEF 1 ABCDEF 2 ABD 1 B 3 B 3 B 3 B 3
Corresponding Author: Source of support:
Background:
Material/Methods:
Results:
Conclusions:
MeSH Keywords:
Full-text PDF:
Ayfer Dayi Ayla Acikgoz Guven Guvendi Levent Bayrak Burcu Ersoy Cagri Gur Omer Ozmen
1 Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, Dokuz Eylül University, Izmir, Turkey 2 Department of Public Health, Faculty of Medicine, Dokuz Eylül University, Izmir, Turkey 3 Faculty of Medicine, Dokuz Eylül University, Izmir, Turkey
Ayfer Dayi, e-mail: [email protected] Departmental sources
Upon graduation, students studying in departments related to health will work in the health sector and will guide and enlighten people with their knowledge and behavior. The purpose of this study was to determine the factors affecting the physical activity (PA) conditions of university students on a health sciences campus. A cross-sectional study was carried out on 706 students in a Turkish university. The data was obtained from a survey prepared by the researchers. The 26-question survey aimed to discover the students’ socio-demographic characteristics and their awareness and practices concerning PA. We found that 30% of the students engage in some type of PA during their university education. A relationship was observed concerning their current PA and their family inactivity levels, as well as between inactivity before entering the university and inactivity during their education. The presence of a chronic disease in family members does not affect student PA. A majority of the students believe PA is beneficial (98.7%), 93.9% believe it relieves stress, and 94.5% believe it helps control body weight. Although students of medicine and related disciplines are aware of the importance of proper diet and adequate levels of PA in health, they did not implement theory into practice. Thus, it is questionable how young health professionals will promote the positive effects and necessity of regular physical activity if they do not apply these activities to their own lifestyle. Motor Activity • Public Health • Students, Health Occupations http://www.medscimonit.com/abstract/index/idArt/899816
4593
6
This work is licensed under Creative Common AttributionNonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)
—
325
29
Indexed in: [Current Contents/Clinical Medicine] [SCI Expanded] [ISI Alerting System] [ISI Journals Master List] [Index Medicus/MEDLINE] [EMBASE/Excerpta Medica] [Chemical Abstracts/CAS] [Index Copernicus]
Dayi A. et al.: The physical activity status of university students on a health campus © Med Sci Monit, 2017; 23: 325-334
HYPOTHESIS
Background Physical activity (PA) can be defined as all daily activities that activate the skeletal muscles and necessitate expending energy. Exercise (regular PA) consists of physical activities which combine 1 or more components of physical compatibility and are regular, planned, and repeated actions. Sports are activities conducted according to certain regulations and generally have a competitive feature. They are done by licensed amateurs and professional sportspeople [1–3]. The physical activities that the World Health Organization (WHO) recommends for adults (ages 18–64) are medium strength (e.g., fast-paced walking) exercise at least 5 days a week and for a 30-min duration, or high strength aerobic activities (e.g., running or high-tempo sports) at least 3 days for a 20-min duration [2,3]. PA is crucial for a healthy life. Technological advances continue to make life easier and cause a reduction in PA levels which in turn can lead to obesity [1,4,5]. The WHO has identified physical inactivity as the fourth leading risk factor for global mortality, resulting in an estimated 3.2 million deaths each year [3]. Although there is a strong relationship between obesity and genetics, many other factors, including nutrition transition, sedentary lifestyle, family history, religion, gender identity, financial status, and environmental issues, have been identified to explain the increasing prevalence of overweight and obesity in developing countries. Unhealthy dietary habits are associated not only with obesity but also with chronic diseases such as cardiovascular diseases and cancer. The risk of developing chronic diseases has been shown to increase with the consumption of a diet rich in energy, total fat, saturated fat, and cholesterol but relatively low in unsaturated fats, fruits, and vegetables. Large epidemiological studies have also demonstrated associations between higher physical activity levels and lower rates of several chronic diseases [1–3,5–8]. According to the WHO, globally, in 2010, approximately 23% of adults aged 18 and over were not active enough (males 20%, females 27%); 12% of men and 24% of women in low-income countries were inactive as compared to high-income countries, where 26% of men and 35% of women were insufficiently physically active. Globally, in 2010, 81% of adolescents aged 11–17 years were insufficiently physically active [5]. In Turkey, studies of the frequency of regular PA levels of students showed differences ranging from 16.6% to 71.8% [9–13]. Studies of university students in other countries indicated that the majority of students were physically inactive [14–20]. University students are encouraged to do sports for overall well-being, relaxation, and because it improves mental and physical health both during their education and afterward [6,7,9,21]. PA in adolescence not only benefits academic development, but also enables adolescents to become strong
This work is licensed under Creative Common AttributionNonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)
and well-balanced individuals [4,6]. PA plays a critical role in human health; therefore, the knowledge, attitudes and behavior of students in health-related departments are very important. This is because upon graduation, these students will work in the health sector and raise awareness in the community not only by providing information but also by being good role models. Therefore, a need arose concerning the determination of the physical activity status of students during their university education. The purpose of this study was to determine the factors affecting the physical activity conditions of university students on a health sciences campus.
Material and Methods Subjects The study was carried out in Dokuz Eylül University (DEU), which is one of the biggest public universities in Turkey and has specialized medical centers which provide both medical and academic services. The health campus of DEU consists of 2 faculties and 3 colleges. This was a cross-sectional study and the data were collected from December 2014 to April 2015. The study encompassed 4 semesters and included the responses of 3355 students from the Schools of Medicine on the health campus of DEU (Vocational School of Health Services, School of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation, Faculty of Nursing, School of Sports Sciences and Technology, and the Faculty of Medicine). Study sample A study of the physical activity practices of the students in the Faculty of Medicine had been done in recent years and 24.6% of students regularly engaged in sports [10]. Therefore, when calculating sample size, 25% was considered to be the regular physical activity prevalence. Using the Epiinfo StatCalc program, the sample of the study was calculated as 646 by using a prevalence of 25% and precision of 3%, with 95% confidence interval level. Predicting the possibility of difficulties in obtaining samples, and the fact that there might be some problems concerning participation in the study, 10% was considered as a substitute figure and the required sample size was determined as 711 individuals. Data collection The researchers prepared a questionnaire based on previous studies determining physical activity, sports, and exercise levels. In this study, physical activity levels were determined according to the WHO recommendations [3]. A survey with 26
326
Indexed in: [Current Contents/Clinical Medicine] [SCI Expanded] [ISI Alerting System] [ISI Journals Master List] [Index Medicus/MEDLINE] [EMBASE/Excerpta Medica] [Chemical Abstracts/CAS] [Index Copernicus]
Dayi A. et al.: The physical activity status of university students on a health campus © Med Sci Monit, 2017; 23: 325-334
HYPOTHESIS
questions was prepared to determine the students’ demographic characteristics, physical activity levels, awareness, and behaviors concerning nutrition and dietary habits. The student class lists were obtained from the schools. Student numbers were determined from these lists and leveled sampling was implemented according to the grades the students were currently enrolled in. The method of clustered simple random samples was used to choose the samples.
BMI was calculated for each participant. The participants were asked to report their weight (kg) and height (meter) in order to calculate the BMI (kg/m2) to classify the sampled population into the categories of underweight, overweight, pre-obese, and obese. This classification was based on the WHO classification for BMI. Normal BMI range is18.50–24.99, pre-obese BMI range is 25–29.99, and obese range is BMI ³30.
School of Health Services, and 7.8% were in the School of Sport Sciences and Technology. The participants’ ages and body mass index means were 20.7±2.1 and 21.9±3.0, respectively, and the age they began to do sports was 14.0±5.1 years. The physical inactivity levels were found to be the highest in the Faculty of Nursing, especially for first year and for female students (p
Determination of Factors Affecting Physical Activity Status of University Students on a Health Sciences Campus
Received: 2016.05.31 Accepted: 2016.06.17 Published: 2017.01.19
Authors’ Contribution: Study Design A Data Collection B Analysis C Statistical Data Interpretation D Manuscript Preparation E Literature Search F Collection G Funds
ABCDEF 1 ABCDEF 2 ABD 1 B 3 B 3 B 3 B 3
Corresponding Author: Source of support:
Background:
Material/Methods:
Results:
Conclusions:
MeSH Keywords:
Full-text PDF:
Ayfer Dayi Ayla Acikgoz Guven Guvendi Levent Bayrak Burcu Ersoy Cagri Gur Omer Ozmen
1 Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, Dokuz Eylül University, Izmir, Turkey 2 Department of Public Health, Faculty of Medicine, Dokuz Eylül University, Izmir, Turkey 3 Faculty of Medicine, Dokuz Eylül University, Izmir, Turkey
Ayfer Dayi, e-mail: [email protected] Departmental sources
Upon graduation, students studying in departments related to health will work in the health sector and will guide and enlighten people with their knowledge and behavior. The purpose of this study was to determine the factors affecting the physical activity (PA) conditions of university students on a health sciences campus. A cross-sectional study was carried out on 706 students in a Turkish university. The data was obtained from a survey prepared by the researchers. The 26-question survey aimed to discover the students’ socio-demographic characteristics and their awareness and practices concerning PA. We found that 30% of the students engage in some type of PA during their university education. A relationship was observed concerning their current PA and their family inactivity levels, as well as between inactivity before entering the university and inactivity during their education. The presence of a chronic disease in family members does not affect student PA. A majority of the students believe PA is beneficial (98.7%), 93.9% believe it relieves stress, and 94.5% believe it helps control body weight. Although students of medicine and related disciplines are aware of the importance of proper diet and adequate levels of PA in health, they did not implement theory into practice. Thus, it is questionable how young health professionals will promote the positive effects and necessity of regular physical activity if they do not apply these activities to their own lifestyle. Motor Activity • Public Health • Students, Health Occupations http://www.medscimonit.com/abstract/index/idArt/899816
4593
6
This work is licensed under Creative Common AttributionNonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)
—
325
29
Indexed in: [Current Contents/Clinical Medicine] [SCI Expanded] [ISI Alerting System] [ISI Journals Master List] [Index Medicus/MEDLINE] [EMBASE/Excerpta Medica] [Chemical Abstracts/CAS] [Index Copernicus]
Dayi A. et al.: The physical activity status of university students on a health campus © Med Sci Monit, 2017; 23: 325-334
HYPOTHESIS
Background Physical activity (PA) can be defined as all daily activities that activate the skeletal muscles and necessitate expending energy. Exercise (regular PA) consists of physical activities which combine 1 or more components of physical compatibility and are regular, planned, and repeated actions. Sports are activities conducted according to certain regulations and generally have a competitive feature. They are done by licensed amateurs and professional sportspeople [1–3]. The physical activities that the World Health Organization (WHO) recommends for adults (ages 18–64) are medium strength (e.g., fast-paced walking) exercise at least 5 days a week and for a 30-min duration, or high strength aerobic activities (e.g., running or high-tempo sports) at least 3 days for a 20-min duration [2,3]. PA is crucial for a healthy life. Technological advances continue to make life easier and cause a reduction in PA levels which in turn can lead to obesity [1,4,5]. The WHO has identified physical inactivity as the fourth leading risk factor for global mortality, resulting in an estimated 3.2 million deaths each year [3]. Although there is a strong relationship between obesity and genetics, many other factors, including nutrition transition, sedentary lifestyle, family history, religion, gender identity, financial status, and environmental issues, have been identified to explain the increasing prevalence of overweight and obesity in developing countries. Unhealthy dietary habits are associated not only with obesity but also with chronic diseases such as cardiovascular diseases and cancer. The risk of developing chronic diseases has been shown to increase with the consumption of a diet rich in energy, total fat, saturated fat, and cholesterol but relatively low in unsaturated fats, fruits, and vegetables. Large epidemiological studies have also demonstrated associations between higher physical activity levels and lower rates of several chronic diseases [1–3,5–8]. According to the WHO, globally, in 2010, approximately 23% of adults aged 18 and over were not active enough (males 20%, females 27%); 12% of men and 24% of women in low-income countries were inactive as compared to high-income countries, where 26% of men and 35% of women were insufficiently physically active. Globally, in 2010, 81% of adolescents aged 11–17 years were insufficiently physically active [5]. In Turkey, studies of the frequency of regular PA levels of students showed differences ranging from 16.6% to 71.8% [9–13]. Studies of university students in other countries indicated that the majority of students were physically inactive [14–20]. University students are encouraged to do sports for overall well-being, relaxation, and because it improves mental and physical health both during their education and afterward [6,7,9,21]. PA in adolescence not only benefits academic development, but also enables adolescents to become strong
This work is licensed under Creative Common AttributionNonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)
and well-balanced individuals [4,6]. PA plays a critical role in human health; therefore, the knowledge, attitudes and behavior of students in health-related departments are very important. This is because upon graduation, these students will work in the health sector and raise awareness in the community not only by providing information but also by being good role models. Therefore, a need arose concerning the determination of the physical activity status of students during their university education. The purpose of this study was to determine the factors affecting the physical activity conditions of university students on a health sciences campus.
Material and Methods Subjects The study was carried out in Dokuz Eylül University (DEU), which is one of the biggest public universities in Turkey and has specialized medical centers which provide both medical and academic services. The health campus of DEU consists of 2 faculties and 3 colleges. This was a cross-sectional study and the data were collected from December 2014 to April 2015. The study encompassed 4 semesters and included the responses of 3355 students from the Schools of Medicine on the health campus of DEU (Vocational School of Health Services, School of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation, Faculty of Nursing, School of Sports Sciences and Technology, and the Faculty of Medicine). Study sample A study of the physical activity practices of the students in the Faculty of Medicine had been done in recent years and 24.6% of students regularly engaged in sports [10]. Therefore, when calculating sample size, 25% was considered to be the regular physical activity prevalence. Using the Epiinfo StatCalc program, the sample of the study was calculated as 646 by using a prevalence of 25% and precision of 3%, with 95% confidence interval level. Predicting the possibility of difficulties in obtaining samples, and the fact that there might be some problems concerning participation in the study, 10% was considered as a substitute figure and the required sample size was determined as 711 individuals. Data collection The researchers prepared a questionnaire based on previous studies determining physical activity, sports, and exercise levels. In this study, physical activity levels were determined according to the WHO recommendations [3]. A survey with 26
326
Indexed in: [Current Contents/Clinical Medicine] [SCI Expanded] [ISI Alerting System] [ISI Journals Master List] [Index Medicus/MEDLINE] [EMBASE/Excerpta Medica] [Chemical Abstracts/CAS] [Index Copernicus]
Dayi A. et al.: The physical activity status of university students on a health campus © Med Sci Monit, 2017; 23: 325-334
HYPOTHESIS
questions was prepared to determine the students’ demographic characteristics, physical activity levels, awareness, and behaviors concerning nutrition and dietary habits. The student class lists were obtained from the schools. Student numbers were determined from these lists and leveled sampling was implemented according to the grades the students were currently enrolled in. The method of clustered simple random samples was used to choose the samples.
BMI was calculated for each participant. The participants were asked to report their weight (kg) and height (meter) in order to calculate the BMI (kg/m2) to classify the sampled population into the categories of underweight, overweight, pre-obese, and obese. This classification was based on the WHO classification for BMI. Normal BMI range is18.50–24.99, pre-obese BMI range is 25–29.99, and obese range is BMI ³30.
School of Health Services, and 7.8% were in the School of Sport Sciences and Technology. The participants’ ages and body mass index means were 20.7±2.1 and 21.9±3.0, respectively, and the age they began to do sports was 14.0±5.1 years. The physical inactivity levels were found to be the highest in the Faculty of Nursing, especially for first year and for female students (p
