Abstract
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5007/1980-0037.2016v18n4p471 The benefits that the regular practice of physical activity (PA) provides to health and its importance in preventing and fighting chronic diseases. The aim of this study was to identify the Stages of Behavior Change (SBC) for PA among technicaladministrative servers and its association with sociodemographic and health risk factors. This cross-sectional study investigated 622 technical-administrative servers (337 women) from a Brazilian federal university. SBC for PA, sociodemographic information (gender, age, marital status and educational level) and health risk factors (inadequate eating habits, excessive alcohol consumption, smoking, commuting and PA at work) were collected through questionnaires. Multinomial regression with adjustment for the hierarchical level was applied and significance level of 5% was adopted. The distribution of technical-administrative servers in SBC for PA identified prevalence of 9.1% and 6.5% in the pre-contemplation stage, 24.6% and 33.5% in contemplation, 33.3% and 22 6% in preparation, 5.6% and 12.2% in action and 27.4% and 25.2% in maintenance stages between men and women, respectively. Lower odds ratio of being in the preparation stage was identified among women (OR=0.62; CI95%=0.41; 0.93) while those with inadequate eating habits were more odds to be in the “pre-contemplation + contemplation” (OR=2.77; CI95%=1.85; 4.15) and preparation stages (OR=1.75; CI95%=1.12; 2.70). Over 60% of technical-administrative servers are insufficiently active (pre-contemplation, contemplation and preparation stages) and factors associated with SBC were female sex and inadequate eating habits.
Highlights
The benefits that the regular practice of physical activity (PA) provides to health and its importance in preventing and fighting chronic diseases such as obesity, heart disease, hypertension, type 2 diabetes, musculoskeletal diseases and even some forms of cancer have been widely reported in literature[1,2,3].Despite the offer of information provided by science on the subject, low levels of regular PA have been found in different population groups
The distribution of workers according to Stages of Behavior Change (SBC) for PA indicates that most women intend to become active in the six months (CI 95%: 28.47; 38.6) and men are physically active, but not on a regular basis (CI 95%: 27.93; 38.84) (Figure 1)
The results of this study showed no significant association between SBC for PA and variables age, schooling, marital status, excessive alcohol consumption, smoking, commuting and work activities
Summary
Despite the offer of information provided by science on the subject, low levels of regular PA have been found in different population groups. Regarding workers, this factor may predispose occupational disorders such as repetitive strain injury (RSI) and work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WRMD)[4]. The transtheoretical model proposed by Prochaska and Marcus[7] has been useful for investigating the behavior of individuals related to PA, as it indicates the exact behavior stage the subject is found[8]. Physically active individuals include those who began practicing PA recently and are more likely to drop it out, and those who have already incorporated the practice of PA into their lifestyle. There are those who have no intention of starting a PA program and those who wish to practice it in the near future[9]
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