Socio-Demographic and Psychosocial Factors Associatedwith Physical Activity of Working Woman in Petaling Jaya, Malaysia
- Author:
Siti Affira K
;
Mohd Nasir MT
;
Hazizi AS
;
Kandiah M
- Publication Type:Journal Article
- Keywords:
Physical activity, psychosocial factors, socio-demographic factors working women
- From:
Malaysian Journal of Nutrition
2011;17(3):315-324
- CountryMalaysia
- Language:English
-
Abstract:
Introduction: This study was conducted on 215 working women from four private
corporate companies in a suburb in Malaysia to determine the factors related to
their physical activity levels. Methods: Data were collected using a questionnaire
which included socio-demographic characteristics, the International Physical
Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ), perceived barriers and benefits to physical
activity, self-efficacy to physical activity and an 8-item questionnaire on current
behavioral stage of physical activity. Results: The majority of the respondents
were Malay (81.9%) with 10.2% being Chinese and 7.9% Indian. Most of the
respondents were executives (64.2%), while the rest were non-executives (24.7%)
and managers (11.2%). The mean weight, height, BMI and waist circumference
were 59.4±13.1 kg, 1.6±0.6 m, 23.7±4.8 kg/m² and 77.0±12.1cm respectively. In
this sample, 24.7% and 7.9% were overweight and obese respectively, while 34%
were at risk of abdominal obesity. A total of 28.8% of the respondents had low
physical activity level, while 48.8% and 22.3% were in the moderate and high
physical activity categories respectively. An association was found between
monthly income (χ2=110.17; p<0.05) and current behavioral stage of physical
activity (χ2=27.527; p<0.05) with physical activity, but no relationship was found
between job category and physical activity category (χ2=8.940; p>0.05). Physical
activity category was also positively correlated with perceived barriers (r=0.227,
p<0.05) and benefits to physical activity (r=0.280, p<0.05). However, physical
activity was not associated with self-efficacy to physical activity. Conclusion: In
this sample of working women, socio-demographic and psychosocial factors
(except self-efficacy to physical activity) were found to have an association with
physical activity level of the respondents. Further studies should be conducted
to confirm these findings in the general working women population.
- Full text:W020150714506474406182.pdf
