Physical activity and its associated factors among nurses at Ho Chi Minh City Hospital for Rehabilitation – Professional Diseases

Abstract

   Introduction: Physical activity (PA) increasingly became a critical public health concern, as the number of individuals meeting the World Health Organization (WHO) recommendations for PA continued to decline. Nurses, due to the nature of their demanding and continuous work, played a crucial role in promoting PA among patients. Therefore, attention should have been given to their own PA levels.

   Objectives: This study identified the proportion of nurses who met the WHO-recommended PA levels. And this study identified the association between sociodemographic characteristics, lifestyle habits and barrier factors with the level of PA that meets the WHO recommendations.

   Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 118 nurses using an online survey via Google Forms. The Global Physical Activity Questionnaire (GPAQ) was employed to assess PA levels. The WHO recommendation of ≥ 600 MET-minutes per week was used as the threshold for adequate PA. Chi-square and Fisher’s exact tests were applied for statistical analysis.

   Results: The proportion of nurses meeting the WHO-recommended PA levels was 36.4%. Factors significantly associated with adequate PA included gender, leisure-time activities,  barriers to engaging in PA, and frequent consumption of alcoholic beverages, with a statistical significance level of p < 0.001.

   Conclusions: The proportion of nurses who met the WHO-recommended PA levels remained low and was significantly associated with gender, leisure- time activities, barriers to engaging in PA, and frequent consumption of alcoholic beverages. This issue warranted attention to enhance nurses’ health, improve patient care efficiency, and strengthen health education and promotion efforts.

DOI: 10.59715/pntjmp.4.3.16