@2024 Afarand., IRAN

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ISSN: 2383-2150    Journal of Education and Community Health 2018;5(3):4-12

Background
The development of technology and automation have led to a decrease in physical activity for human beings, while 70% of the disorders are caused by lack of physical activity [1].
Previous Studies
... [2-7]. Limited studies have been done on the physical activity in the staff of medical universities. According to these studies, the prevalence of sedentary behavior among employees of the Isfahan University of Medical Sciences and Hamedan University of Medical Sciences was 68% and 65%, respectively [8, 9]. Jalilian et al. study based on the Transtheoretical Model (TTM) on the employees of the Ilam University of Medical Sciences showed that 99% of the subjects were found to be in the pre-contemplation, contemplation and preparation stages, which indicates they had sedentary lifestyle [10]. In another study, 16.68% of the teachers in Dehloran, Iran participating in the research had sedentary lifestyle. ... [12-18]. Despite the large number of behavior change theories, the best model for regular physical activity behavior is controversial. However, Health Belief Model (HBM) is one of the patterns that has been successfully used as a tool for designing educational interventions to strengthen adherence to prevention behaviors, including regular physical activity [19]. HBM provides an appropriate conceptual framework for understanding regular physical activity [20]. ... [21-25].
Aim(s)
This study aimed at identifying predictive factors for the regular physical activity in order to prevent cardiovascular diseases based on HBM among employees of the healthcare network.
Research type
This research is a descriptive-analytical cross sectional study.
Research society, place and time
This study was conducted on employees working in a healthcare network affiliated to the Ilam University of Medical Sciences in 2017.
Sampling method and number
Inclusion criteria included employees with formal or contractual employment, no history of chronic diseases or disorders leading to limitation in movement, and the signed informed consent. Sample size was obtained 161 subjects out of 276 employees, using Cochran formula. Sampling was done by referring to the considered healthcare network using simple random sampling method (using a list containing staff characteristics) and finally 163 employees entered the study.
Used devices&materials
30 min of regular physical activity (daily exercise) with moderate intensity for 5 days a week was considered [26]. It was measured based on the “Impact of sport on the cardiovascular diseases scale based on the HBM (HBM- ISCS)” questionnaire [27]. The questionnaire includes items, including perceived susceptibility (2 items), perceived severity (3 items), perceived benefits (2 items), perceived barriers (3 items) and self-efficacy (4 items) constructs. It is scored on the 5-item Likert scale; the lowest score is one, whereas highest score is 5 [27]. Meanwhile, there are different comments on how to measure the instruction construct and scoring; in several studies, the instruction is used solely to determine the types of internal and external stimuli [28, 29]. In the present study, instruction construct was used to determine the external and internal stimuli to design the intervention. The HBM-ISCS scale was designed to measure participants' health beliefs on the effect of regular physical activity on cardiovascular diseases. Its reliability was obtained between 0.71 and 0.82 using Cronbach's alpha for the constructs [27]. A researcher-made questionnaire was used to collect information about the demographic characteristics of the participants (including age, gender, marital status, educational level, job category, history of smoking, hookah smoking, etc.) as well as regular physical activity status (regular daily activity (yes and no questions) and the amount of regular physical activity daily and weekly/min). Face and content validity (quantitative and qualitative) were determined using 20 experts’ opinions, and the construct validity was also measured by exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis using Lisrel 8.8 software [27, 30].Data was collected using self-report method and interviews, as well. Data analysis was done by SPSS 16 using Pearson correlation test and multiple regression analysis. ETA test was used to examine the relationship between gender, job category and marital status and the scale constructs.
Findings by Text
The mean age and educational level of the participants were 37.34±4.77 and 15.36±1.69 years, respectively. The mean daily and weekly physical activities were 6.38±1.40 and 31.35±3.70 min, respectively. 50.9% of the participants were female and 82.8% were married. 87.7% of the participants had academic education and 77.3% were employed in healthcare network (Table 1). Daily and weekly physical activity was significantly correlated with perceived severity, physical activity benefits, and self-efficacy; perceived susceptibility was significantly correlated with perceived severity and physical activity benefits. There was a significant correlation between perceived severity, perceived benefits, and perceived barriers and self-efficacy (Table 2). Perceived severity and self-efficacy were significant predictors for daily and weekly physical activity (Table 3). In addition, multiple regression analysis predicted 23.3% of daily and weekly physical activity.In addition, the strongest correlation was found between gender and regular physical activity barriers and also between marital status and job category and self-efficacy. There was no significant correlation between educational level and the scale constructs and the age was only significantly correlated with the perceived severity and physical activity benefits (Table 4).
Main comparison to the similar studies
... [31, 32]. In this study, 69.9% and 50.09% of the participants did not have regular daily and weekly physical activity, respectively. In the studies by Hatefnia and Ghazivakili [19], and Vahedian Shahroodi et al. [33], 62.2% and 53.7% of participants did not have physical activity, respectively. The results of the present study were not consistent with the results of the studies by Baghiani Moghadam et al. [34] and Khorsandi et al. [35] on the prevention of osteoporosis, and the Mazloomi Mahmoodabad and Roohani Tanekaboni [36] studies on oral hygiene behavior. ... [37, 38]. The results of this study indicated a positive and significant correlation between self-efficacy and regular physical activity behavior, which is consistent with the results of other related studies [8, 39]. The results of the Sullivan et al. study in the United States showed a significant relationship between regular physical activity and perceived benefits and self-efficacy to prevent stroke [40], which is consistent with the results of the present study. Baghiani Moghadam et al. reported a direct and significant correlation between perceived benefits and preventive behaviors of osteoporosis [34], and also between perceived benefits and physical activity in Koch research in the United States [41], which are consistent with the results of this study. ... [42]. ... [43, 44]. In this study, multiple regression analysis predicted 23.3% of the studied behavior. According to the Baghiani Moghadam et al. study, HBM constructs predicted 36% of the variance in osteoporosis prevention behavior [34]. ... [45-49].
Suggestions
The design and implementation of interventions through the used constructs in the studied population, who have a low level of regular physical activity are proposed to promote and sustain an active lifestyle.
Limitations
The results of this research should be cautiously interpreted, since physical activity was measured via self-report, so overestimation or underestimation of the physical activity is possible.
Conclusions
Health beliefs play an important role in adopting health behavior (regular physical activity), so that perceived severity was the strongest predictor of regular daily physical activity and self-efficacy was the strongest predictor of regular weekly physical activity.
Acknowledgments
The research team is grateful to all staff and officials of the Tarbiat Modarres University who have participated in approving and providing the needed support for this study as well as all the participants in the study.
Conflict of interest
None declared.
Ethical Permissions
The researchers were committed to maintain the confidentiality of the information and residence of the participants. They also received the ethics permission from the research council and the medical ethics committee of the Medical School, Tarbiat Modares University (ethical code: IR.TMU.REC.1394.148). The written informed consent was obtained from all subjects.
Funding Sources
This article is extracted from a PhD thesis approved by the Tarbiat Modares University on health education and health promotion.

TABLES and CHARTS

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