Examining the Relationship between Cellphone Use Behavior, Perceived Exercise Benefit and Physical Exercise Level Among University Students in Taiwan.

Mei-Ling Lin,Yu-Jy Luo,Chun-Chin Liao,Wen-Yi Wang,Chun-Chieh Kao

doi:10.3390/healthcare8040556

Abstract

This study investigated how perceived exercise benefit affects the relationship between cellphone usage and physical activity level. This cross-sectional study performed a survey of Taiwanese university students selected using cluster sampling. A total of 975 students were recruited (male = 367, female = 608, average age = 20.10 ± 1.42). Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, correlation analysis, and hierarchical regression. The results show that cellphone usage was negatively correlated with physical activity level, whereas perceived exercise benefit was negatively correlated with cellphone usage and positively correlated with physical activity level. In hierarchical regression, the main effects of cellphone usage and perceived exercise benefit explained 22% of the variance in physical activity level. After controlling for the main effect, the interaction term accounted for an additional 1% of the variance. Cellphone usage and perceived exercise benefit thus had significant power to explain physical activity level. The results of this study reveal a novel phenomenon—that students who perceived the benefits of exercise to be greater are more physically active.

Highlights

Physical activity plays a crucial role in the World Health Organization’s global action plan for the prevention and control of noncommunicable diseases 2013–2020 [1]
The analysis revealed that perceived exercise benefit was positively correlated with physical activity level (r = 0.43), the higher the level of perceived exercise benefit, the higher the participants’ physical activity levels
Perceived exercise benefit was positively correlated with physical activity level (r = 0.43), indicating that the higher the level of perceived exercise benefit, the more active the participants

Summary

Introduction

Physical activity plays a crucial role in the World Health Organization’s global action plan for the prevention and control of noncommunicable diseases 2013–2020 [1]. Lack of physical activity causes more than five million premature deaths annually and is one of the most critical factors in the global disease burden [2]. The chronic diseases and other negative health consequences caused by lack of physical activity are quickly becoming pressing public health concerns [3,4]. Several studies examining people’s understanding of the existing physical activity guidelines and benefits of physical activity revealed the following: 40% of adults in Iran had a low level of physical activity, with approximately 15% (4.7 million) doing no physical activity at all [9], and in Canada, 85% of adults did not achieve the target of 150 min of moderate to vigorous physical activity per week [4]. Another study examining the public’s understanding of physical activity guidelines revealed that only 36% of the American population understood the physical activity guidelines and Healthcare 2020, 8, 556; doi:10.3390/healthcare8040556 www.mdpi.com/journal/healthcare

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