Association between Physical Activity and Perceived Stress among Korean Adults: A Cross-Sectional Study Using 2017 the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey Data

Abstract

Background: The purpose of this study was to explore the association between the high perceived stress of adults and the types and amounts of their physical activities. Methods: The subjects consisted of 5,624 adults aged 20 and older from the 2017 Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey data. The three types of physical activity (aerobic activity, muscular exercise and walking) were investigated and the amounts of physical activity were calculated with time used in each activity were calculated. To examine the association between the high perceived stress and physical activity, complex samples multiple logistic regression analyses were performed with controlling participants’ demographic and socio-economic, health status and health behavior characteristics. Results: There were 1,539 people (27.36%) in the high stress perceived group, and the subjects in the high stress perceived group seemed to perform less time to walking (weighted mean: 217.23 minutes/ week) than the low or not stress perceived group (weighted mean: 241.09 minutes/week). The proportion of subjects doing muscular exercise 3 or more days in a week seemed to higher in the lower stress perceived group than the high stress perceived group. The multiple logistic regression analyses results showed significant correlations between walking or doing muscular exercise and high-perceived stress (p<0.01). Additionally, the proportion of activity at work seemed to be a significant factor in the perceived stress level. Conclusions: There appears to be a correlation between physical activity especially muscular activity and perceived stress, such that further studies will lead to improvements in stress management strategies.