• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
• /
• v.46 no.sup1
• /
• pp.28-34
• /
• 2013

Physical activity (PA) professionals and participants recognize enhanced quality of life (QoL) as a benefit of and motivator for PA. However, QoL measures are often problematic and rarely consider the participants' perspective. This paper focuses on recent findings from a larger project on the role of QoL in PA and health promotion. More specifically, we focus on the views of participants and potential participants to better understand the relationship of PA and QoL. In earlier stages of the project we began with a conceptual model of QoL and developed a survey. We now focus on participants' views and ask two questions: 1) what is QoL? and 2) how does PA relate to QoL? We first asked those questions of a large sample of university students and community participants as open-ended survey items, and then asked focus groups of community participants. Overall, participants' responses reflected the multidimensional, integrative QoL model, but the responses and patterns provided information that may not be picked up with typical survey measures. Findings suggest that PA contributes to multiple aspects of QoL, that social and emotional benefits are primary motivators and outcomes for participants, and that the meaning of QoL and PA benefits is subjective and contextualized, varying across individuals and settings. Programs that directly target and highlight the multiple dimensions and integrative QoL, while considering the individual participants and contexts, may enhance both PA motivation and participants' health and QoL.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
• /
• v.51 no.3
• /
• pp.294-304
• /
• 2021

Purpose: This study aimed to investigate objectively measured physical activity (PA) in institutionalized older adults with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and to elucidate the influence of autonomic nervous function, salivary cortisol, and PA on cognitive functions based on neurovisceral integration model. Methods: Overall cognitive function was evaluated using the mini-mental state examination (MMSE) and executive function was evaluated using semantic verbal fluency test and clock drawing test. Actigraph for PA, HRV and sAA for autonomous function, and the geriatric depression scale for depression were used. Saliva specimens were collected in the morning for sAA and cortisol. Results: Ninety-eight older adults from four regional geriatric hospitals participated in the study. They took 4,499 steps per day on average. They spent 753.93 minutes and 23.12 minutes on average in sedentary and moderate-to-vigorous activity, respectively. In the multiple regression analysis, lower salivary cortisol level (β = - .33, p = .041) and greater step counts (β = .37, p = .029) significantly improved MMSE score. Greater step count (β = .27, p = .016) also exerted a significant influence on verbal fluency, and greater sAA (β= .35, p = .026) was significantly associated with a better clock drawing test result. Conclusion: Salivary cortisol, sAA and physical activity were significantly associated with cognitive functions. To prevent older adults from developing dementia, strategies are needed to increase their overall PA amount by decreasing sedentary time and to decrease salivary cortisol for cognitive function, and to maintain their sympathetic nervous activity for executive function.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
• /
• v.46 no.sup1
• /
• pp.12-21
• /
• 2013

Several epidemiological studies have shown that exercise (EX) and physical activity (PA) can prevent or delay the onset of different mental disorders, and have therapeutic benefits when used as sole or adjunct treatment in mental disorders. This review summarizes studies that used EX interventions in patients with anxiety, affective, eating, and substance use disorders, as well as schizophrenia and dementia/mild cognitive impairment. Despite several decades of clinical evidence with EX interventions, controlled studies are sparse in most disorder groups. Preliminary evidence suggests that PA/EX can induce improvements in physical, subjective and disorder-specific clinical outcomes. Potential mechanisms of action are discussed, as well as implications for psychiatric research and practice.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
• /
• v.50 no.1
• /
• pp.10-17
• /
• 2017

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship of meeting the recommended levels of physical activity (PA) with health status and preventive health behavior in adults. Methods: A total of 5630 adults 18 years of age or older were included in this study. PA was assessed using a series of questions that categorized activities based on their metabolic equivalent values and then categorized individuals based on the reported frequency and duration of such activities. Participants reporting 150 minutes or more of moderate-intensity PA per week were considered to have met the PA guidelines. Multiple logistic regression was used to model the relationships between meeting PA guidelines and health status and preventive health behavior, while controlling for confounding variables. Results: Overall, 53.9% (95% confidence interval [CI], 51.9 to 55.9%) of adults reported meeting the recommended levels of PA. Among adults with good general health, 56.9% (95% CI, 54.7 to 59.1%) reported meeting the recommended levels of PA versus 43.1% (95% CI, 40.9 to 45.3%) who did not. Adults who met the PA guidelines were significantly more likely not to report high cholesterol, diabetes, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, arthritis, asthma, depression, or overweight. Furthermore, adults meeting the PA guidelines were significantly more likely to report having health insurance, consuming fruits daily, consuming vegetables daily, and not being a current cigarette smoker. Conclusions: In this study, we found meeting the current guidelines for PA to have a protective relationship with both health status and health behavior in adults. Health promotion programs should focus on strategies that help individuals meet the current guidelines of at least 150 minutes per week of moderate-intensity PA.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
• /
• v.22 no.1
• /
• pp.94-103
• /
• 2021

The purpose of this study was to identify the association between regular physical activity (PA) types and metabolic syndrome (MetS) in fertile women. Data were obtained from the seventh Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES VII-3, 2018). The sample consisted of 4,172 fertile women over 19 years of age. The data were analyzed using an independent t-test, χ2 test, and multiple logistic regression analysis for examining the association of regular PA and MetS. The prevalence of MetS in fertile women was 3.1% (n =128), and 1,972 fertile women (47.2%) practiced regular PA. Compared to the non-regular PA group, regular PA resulted in a significantly lower systolic blood pressure (p =.002), lower waist circumference (p <.001), lower fasting blood sugar (p =.007), and higher high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (p <.001). After controlling the confounding variables, multiple logistic regression showed that the regular PA group (odds ratio 0.59, 95% confidence interval 0.35-0.98, p =.040) and the regular muscle-strengthen PA group (odds ratio 0.34, 95% confidence interval 0.14-0.80, p =.013) were associated with a decreased risk of MetS. Therefore, regular PA, including muscle-strengthen PA should be considered to develop effective MetS intervention in fertile women.

• Physical Therapy Korea
• /
• v.16 no.1
• /
• pp.52-60
• /
• 2009

The objectives of this study were to investigate the relationship between fear-avoidance beliefs and functional status in individuals suffering from low back pain, and to identify factors that influence on fear-avoidance beliefs, functional status and pain. A cross-sectional study included 214 individuals with low back pain. Each of subjects completed a fear-avoidance beliefs questionnaire (FABQ) which divided into two subscales, FABQ for physical activity (FABQ-PA) and FABQ for work(FABQ-W), Oswestry disability index (ODI) and numeric pain rating scale (NPRS). Individuals with radiating pain were significantly higher in FABQ-PA, FABQ-total, and ODI scores than with no radiation pain (p<.05). Individuals who had received surgery were significantly higher in FABQ-PA, FABQ-total, ODI and NPRS scores when compared with individuals who had not received it (p<.05). And individuals with taking medication were significantly higher in all variables (FABQ-PA, FABQ-W, FABQ-total ODI and NPRS) than individuals not taking medication (p<.05). In correlation analysis. age appeared to be significantly correlated with FABQ-PA, FABQ-total and ODI scores (p<.05), and all variables was significantly correlated with each other (p<.01). These findings indicate that individuals suffering from low back pain have psychosocial problems such as fear-avoidance beliefs as well as functional status and pain. Fear-avoidance beliefs may contribute to aggravate physical symptoms, and therefore it should be carefully considered for the management of individuals with low back pain.

• Journal of the Korean Applied Science and Technology
• /
• v.38 no.4
• /
• pp.1165-1175
• /
• 2021

The purpose of this study was to analyze the correlation between pulmonary function, basic physical fitness (PF), and physical activity (PA), and to compare the differences by gender in Korean college students. Measurements of body composition, basic PF, PA (questionnaire), and pulmonary function tests of forced vital capacity (FVC) and forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1) using a Quark pulmonary function test were carried out on 312 healthy participants (150 males [mean age: 19.29±1.72 years] and 162 females [mean age: 19.05±1.17 years]). The pulmonary function of male students was related to right-handedness, left-handedness, and back strength, and the pulmonary function of female students was related to all basic PF. The pulmonary function of male students was related to all PA variables, whereas the pulmonary function of female students was related to middle-intensity PA. The findings of this study suggest that male students need to increase PA, and female students need to improve basic PF to sustain a healthy pulmonary function. Understand gender differences for pulmonary function-related factors and the gender-specific educational efforts are needed to improve and maintain pulmonary capacity in college students.

• The Journal of Korean Society for School & Community Health Education
• /
• v.17 no.1
• /
• pp.101-112
• /
• 2016

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to examine the association between participation in physical activities (PA) and subjective well-being. Methods: We analyzed the data from Korean Youth Risk Behavior Web-based Survey, 2013 containing 36,655 and 35,780 for male and female students respectively. Study variables included PA, participation in physical education class, participation in team sports and subjective well-being. Control variables were school type, socio-economic status, level of parent education, living with parent, academic performance, delinquent behaviors, depression and perceived health. For this study, descriptive analysis, Chi-square test, and multivariate logistic regression analysis were performed. Results: Among boys, after adjusting for control variables, PA (past 7 days 0 time reference group vs. over 4 times: OR 1.306), physical education class (past 7 days 0 time reference group vs. over 3 times: OR 1.140), and team sports (no team reference group vs. 2 team: OR 1.206) were associated with subjective well-being. Among girls, control variables were adjusted. PA (past 7 days 0 time reference group vs over 4 times: OR 1.244), physical education class (past 7 days 0 time reference group vs. over 3 times: OR 1.161), and team sports (no team reference group vs. 2 team: OR 1.181) were associated with subjective well-being. Conclusions: Participation in physical activities may help adolescent promote their life satisfaction. Thus, education experts should develop various exercise curriculums to encourage participation in physical activities.

• Safety and Health at Work
• /
• v.14 no.4
• /
• pp.358-367
• /
• 2023

Background: This study aimed to develop and assess the psychometric features of the Physical Activity at Workplace Questionnaire (PAWPQ) based on the Social Cognitive Theory (SCT) to evaluate employees' physical activity (PA) behaviors at the workplace. Methods: This psychometric cross-sectional study was conducted on 455 employees working in one of the gas refineries in Iran. The participants were selected using the proportional stratified sampling method in 2019. The data collection tools were a demographic information questionnaire, the short form of the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ), and a questionnaire developed based on the SCT, whose psychometric features were confirmed in terms of validity and reliability. Data were analyzed using SPSS₂₂ and AMOS₂₀ software. Results: The first version of PAWPQ-SCT had 74 items. After evaluating content and face validity, nine items were removed. The results of the content validity index (0.98), content validity ratio (0.86), and impact score (3.62) were acceptable for the whole instrument. In exploratory factor analysis, after removing seven items-58-item final version of the scale-six factors could explain 73.54% of the total variance. The results of structural equation modeling showed the acceptable fit of the model into the data (RMSEA = 0.052, CFI = 0.917, NFI = 0.878, TLI = 0.905, IFI = 0.917, CMIN/DF = 2.818). Cronbach's alpha coefficient and Intraclass Correlation were 0.90 and 0.86, respectively. Conclusion: This study confirmed that the psychometric features of the 58-item final version of PAWPQSCT constructs were acceptable in a sample of Iranian employees. This questionnaire can be used as a valid and reliable tool to evaluate Iranian employees' PA behaviors and develop effective educational interventions for workers and managers.

• Korean Journal of Exercise Nutrition
• /
• v.24 no.3
• /
• pp.25-31
• /
• 2020

[Purpose] Epidemiological evidence has shown that leisure-time physical activity and structured exercise before and after breast cancer diagnosis contribute to reducing the risk of breast cancer recurrence and mortality. Thus, in this review, we aimed to summarize the physical activity-dependent regulation of systemic factors to understand the biological and molecular mechanisms involved in the initiation, progression, and survival of breast cancer. [Methods] We systematically reviewed the studies on 1) the relationship between physical activity and the risk of breast cancer, and 2) various systemic factors induced by physical activity and exercise that are potentially linked to breast cancer outcomes. To perform this literature review, PubMed database was searched using the terms "Physical activity OR exercise" and "breast cancer", until August 5th, 2020; then, we reviewed those articles related to biological mechanisms after examining the resulting search list. [Results] There is strong evidence that physical activity reduces the risk of breast cancer, and the protective effect of physical activity on breast cancer has been achieved by long-term regulation of various circulatory factors, such as sex hormones, metabolic hormones, inflammatory factors, adipokines, and myokines. In addition, physical activity substantially alters wholebody homeostasis by affecting numerous other factors, including plasma metabolites, reactive oxygen species, and microRNAs as well as exosomes and gut microbiota profile, and thereby every cell and organ in the whole body might be ultimately affected by the biological perturbation induced by physical activity and exercise. [Conclusion] The understanding of integrative mechanisms will enhance how physical activity can ultimately influence the risk and prognosis of various cancers, including breast cancer. Furthermore, physical activity could be considered an efficacious non-pharmacological therapy, and the promotion of physical activity is probably an effective strategy in primary cancer prevention.