Physical Exercise Behavior of Ubon Ratchathani University Undergraduate Students
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Abstract
Introduction: Optimal physical exercise increases both physical and mental health. The objectives ofthis cross-sectional survey were to estimate the rate of physical exercise, identify physical exercise behaviors andfactors infl uencing exercise behaviors of Ubon Ratchathani University (UBU) undergraduate students. Methods:Actively enrolled undergraduate students in academic year 2009 were randomly selected from the registry bymultistage sampling. Questionnaire was initially developed from the American Association of Sports Medicine’scriteria and previous research in Thailand. The questionnaire was reviewed by experts, tested and revised for the fi nalversion which comprised 4 parts: (1) demographic data, (2) intention to exercise, (3) stress level, and (4) physicalexercise behavior score. Physical exercise behaviors were analyzed by descriptive statistics. Factors associatedwith exercise behaviors were analyzed by multiple regression analysis. Results: The results showed that most ofthe 389 UBU students performed exercise over 30 minutes per session. The majority, however, performed physicalexercise less than three times a week. Most students warmed up and cooled down for 5-10 minutes; nevertheless,41.4% and 47.0% warmed up and cooled down less than 5 minutes respectively. More importantly, 32.1%of students felt very exhausted but they were still able to talk or couldn’t talk to others after performing exercisefor 15-30 minutes. Statistically signifi cant factors associated with exercise behavior score were: (1) intention toexercise, (2) stress level, and (3) body mass index less than 18.5 (p<0.05). Intention to exercise was the strongestpredictor of exercise behavior score (β=1.99, p<0.05). All signifi cant predictors explained 26.6% (R2) of exercisebehavior score variance. Conclusion: Some UBU students performed physical exercise inappropriately. Intentionto exercise, stress level and body mass index less than 18.5 kg/m2 were signifi cant predictors of physical exercisescores. UBU should implement an additional policy to help students perform physical exercise appropriately toachieve the physical exercise goals.
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