Physical activity, psychological well-being, and physiological variables in university administrative staff

Abstract

Objective: To describe and analyze the physical activity, psychological well-being, and physiological variables of employees in a higher education institution in Colombia. Methods: A total of 90 participants were included, divided into 2 groups: women (n=45) and men (n=45). Validated instruments were used to measure levels of physical activity (IPAQ-SF), psychological well-being (PGWBI), and other measurement instruments for physiological variables. Results: The main findings reported correlations between systolic and diastolic hypertension with certain dimensions of psychological well-being and body composition variables, with the highest trend of hypertension being more commonly found in men over 41 years of age than in women. Univariate and multivariate comparison tests did not find significant differences between the study factors (gender, physical activity, PGWBIS, etc.). Conclusions: Men have a higher predisposition to hypertension, and we assert that men have significantly higher averages of hypertension in both systolic and diastolic levels. The association between gender and systolic hypertension also showed a greater tendency in men. Future studies are needed to explore the causal relationship between psychological dimensions and morphophysiological variables in individuals who work daily at university centers, such as office or administrative staff. Keywords: lifestyle, psychological dimensions, body state.