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Sports participation; Physical activity; Quality of life

Introduction

The adverse health consequences associated with being physically inactive are numerous and include the increased risk of various diseases such as diabetes, breast and colon cancers, stroke, hypertension, and coronary heart disease. Physical activity (PA) has been shown to improve general health and quality of life [1]. PA is associated with several aspects of quality of life (QoL) [2] and has been found to be an important means of increasing QoL [3]. This relationship has been consistently reported in earlier studies [4, 5] which showed that physically active individuals assessed some of their quality-of-life domains higher than their physically non-active counterparts [6-8]. In addition, PA is a good way for the person to improve his physical, psychological and emotional health 9 and positively influences the personal perception of QoL and well- being [10].

QoL refers to how individuals subjectively view the positive and negative aspects of their lives. QoL is a multidimensional construct, including psychological, physical, social and environmental domains [11]. There are four basic environments in which individuals can be physically active. These environments are workplace, transportation (walking, cycling etc.), households and leisure time activities (sports and recreational activities) [12]. Previous studies have reported positive relationships between PA and various QoL indicators [13, 14].

Some of published studies have investigated the relationship between PA and satisfaction with life among healthy, young adults and college students [15-17]. And they have found health education programs designed to promote regular PA and increase physical selfesteem to be effective in improving QoL in young adults [17]. However, there seems to be paucity of literatures on impact of workplace-based fitness program on quality of life of workers.

The aim of this study therefore was to compare the effects of participation inworkplace-based aerobic exercises on PA level and QoL of workers participating in the workplace-based fitness program and non-participating members of staff and find out whether there is any difference between the PA level and QoL of these two categories of staff working in a tertiary health institution.

Materials and Methods

The comparative study recruited 56 staff of Federal Medical Center, Owo, Nigeria. 28 were those that regularly participated in the weekly aerobic/sports activities coordinated by physiotherapist in the institution while 28 were non participants in the weekly exercise program. The workplace-based fitness program holds every Thursdays as a means of encouraging active lifestyle and development of individualised fitness program among the staff. The exercise program involves a regimen of moderate to high intensity exercise including aerobics, flexibility, balance and coordination exercises, endurance and fitness programs as well as health education on diets, lifestyle modifications which lasted for one hour between the hours of 2 to 3 in the afternoon. The study protocol was submitted to the Health Research Ethics Committee of Federal Medical Centre, Owo for review and the ethical approval was therefore obtained before the commencement of the study. The rationale behind the study was explained to all participants and informed consent was obtained before their participation. Data was obtained from respondents using a self-administered questionnaire consisting of 3 parts. Part A sought information on demographic characteristics. Part B was the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ) for information regarding physical activity, the result from IPAQ allowed energy expenditure to be estimated in metabolic equivalent minutes per week (MET-min/week). An average MET score is attributed for each type of activity: 3.3 METs for walking, 4.0 METs for moderate activity and 8.0 for vigorous activity. Part C focus on Quality of Life (QoL) using the validated English version of the WHOQoL-BREF. The brief version of the WHOQOL-BREF contains 26 items, which has four main domains for interpretation: physical health domain; psychological health domain; social relationships and environment domain. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics of percentages and frequency while inferential statistics of Mann Whiteney U test was used for the test of significance. Alpha level was set at 0.05.

Result

Presented in table 1 are the sociodemographic characteristics of the respondents. A total of 56 health workers participated in this study. 28 (7 male, 21 Female) were regular involved in weekly hospital-based aerobic sporting activities while 28 (12 male, 16 Females) were non -sports’ participants. 75% of the sports’ participating respondents are the administrative staff while clinical staff was in minority (25%).

Table 2 shows the Body Max Index (BMI), Physical Activity (PA) and Health related Quality of life of respondents. The result shows that, 46.4% of sport’s participating respondents were overweight, 25.0% obese while only 28.6% had normal weight. For non-sports’ participating respondents, majority (57.1%) had normal weight, 28.6% overweight while 14.3% were obese. The physical activity level for the respondents in both the sports’ participating and non-sports’ participating groups followed the same pattern: majority had low level of physical activity (42.9%; 50.0%), Moderate (21.4%; 21.4%) and high physical activity (35.7%; 28.6%) respectively. Furthermore, Physical function domain of health- related quality of life had the highest mean value (81.58 ± 7.24) among both the sports’ participating and non-sports’ participating respondents (68.22 ± 16.20).

Presented in table 3 is the result of Man Whiteney U test of significance between respondents’ physical activity and quality of life. The result shows no significant difference for low and high level of physical activity between sports participating and non-sports’ participating respondents (Low PA z = -1.069, p=0.285; High PA z = -0.502, p=0.616) while, a significant difference was observed in moderate level of physical activity (Moderate PA z= -2.438, p=0.015). However, there was no significant difference in the overall physical activity between the two groups (z= -0.321, p=0.748).

The result also showed a significant difference in all the domains of quality of life between sports’ participating and non-sports’ participating respondents (Physical Function p= 0.000; Psychological p=0.039; Social function p= 0.005; Environment p= 0.000). Similarly, there was a significant difference in the overall quality of life between sports’ participating and non-sports’ participating respondents (p= 0.000).

Discussion

The results of the study showed that majority of those who are sports’ participants (75%) are female. This is probably due to the fact that women tend to accumulate more body fat and are motivated to participate in programs that help to lose/manage weight. This is in line with view expressed in the study on Impact of Workplace-based Fitness on Development of an Individualised Physical Activity Program Among Nigerian Health Workers [18].

People within 41-45 and 46-50 age groups in this study participated more in sporting activity than other age group. This is probably because they regard sport as important to their physical wellbeing and because they are in their productive age in civil service. This finding also supported the reports by Bolarinde [18] that found more middle-age workers participating more in workplace based physical activity.

The findings of the study revealed that 46.4% of sports’ participating respondents were overweight while 25% were obese. This is in contrast with the findings of Alexis [19] that reported low level of sports participation among overweighs/obese individuals. They concluded that participants who were not in a sports club were more often overweight or obese and generally not interested in sports. The high level of participation of overweight individual in sports observed in the present study could probably be attributed to the clinical setting in which the participants work and the knowledge of the participants regarding beneficial effects of physical activity which include weight reduction among other benefits.

The level of physical activity comparison between sports’ participant and non-sports’ participants show a significant difference in Moderate level of physical activity. Although other categories of physical activity did not show any significant difference, the moderate nature of the hospital based exercises for those that regularly participated in the workplace-based exercise could have been responsible for the significant difference. The result however showed no significant difference in the overall level of physical activity. This observation is in contrast with the findings of Guner Ciker [20] that reported a significant difference in the level of physical activity between students in sport and non- sport department. The difference in the result could be attributed to the fact that participants in the present study are hospital workers and not students whose academic curriculum involved regular competitive and non-competitive sporting events.

Observation from the present study showed a significant difference in all the domains of quality of life between sports’ participating and non-sports’ participating respondents. This finding supported the report from other previous studies by Guner Ciker [20] and Elavsky [13]. Elavsky [13] reported an improved quality of life with physical activity similarly Guner Ciker [20] found that Physical, psychological, social relations, environmental domains of the students studying in sports department were found higher than students in other departments. From the overall analysis of the result from the present study, the significant impact of the moderate level of physical activity in sports participants had resulted in a significant improvement in all the domains of QoL and the overall QoL. Although the participants in the present study are hospital workers whose level of physical activity are expected to be less than students who are of younger age and more active, nevertheless, the workplace-based moderate intensity exercise proved to have significantly impacted the level of activity of the workers in comparison to those workers who did not participate in the aerobic exercise. The result from this study therefore has led to a significant improvement in the overall quality of life of workers that participated in the workplace-based aerobic exercise program. Kim [21] showed that physical activity that are more related to sport and recreation, rather than to work, was positively related to quality of life. The results of our study therefore confirm that as the level of physical activity increases, the quality of life levels increase and that there is a positive relationship between them, as noted in other previous studies [13, 14].

Conclusion

Physical activity has been found to be beneficial to human health. The findings from this study have shown that involvement in sporting activity particularly the work place-based aerobic exercise program in a moderate level can significantly improve the quality of life of participants.

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare no conflict of Interest.

Clinical Implication and Recommendations

Incorporating workplace -based aerobic exercise can significantly improve the quality of life and overall wellbeing of employees which in returns will reduce absenteeism due to illnesses and health care cost. It is therefore recommended that, enlightenment programs on the benefits of sport’ participation be periodically taught in all workplaces similarly chief executives of workplaces should be encouraged to create break time and conducive atmosphere for implementation of work place-based aerobic exercise for the benefits of their workforce.

Clinical Implication

Participation in sporting activities has been shown to improve quality of life hence significant efforts should be made to incorporate workplace based aerobic program as a means of improving workers’ quality of life.

Funding Acknowledgement

The study was self-funded.

Ethical Approval

Ethical approval for this study was obtained from the Health Research Ethic Committee of the Federal Medical Centre, Owo, Ondo state, Nigeria.

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