Date Presented 03/27/20
The purpose of this study was to compare perceived PA levels as reported by college students to actual PA levels measured by an actigraph. Preliminary analysis of 15 participants showed weekly averages of moderate PA that meet the activity guidelines by the US Surgeon General. Additional findings regarding the accuracy of self-reported data will also be presented.
Primary Author and Speaker: Elena Donoso Brown
Additional Authors and Speakers: Caroline Crilly, Aubrey Boucher
Contributing Authors: Kimberly Szucs, Kelly Burton, Natalie Falcione
PURPOSE: Physiological health and quality of life are positively correlated with activity levels and self-esteem (Joseph, Royce, Benitez, & Pekmezi, 2014). However, college students are at risk for negative effects of excessive sedentary behavior even when achieving weekly recommended exercise (Perterson, Sirard, Kulbok, DeBoer, & Erickson, 2017). On average, college students report dedicating over 2 hours to screen time and over 90 minutes on homework daily (Fountaine, Liguori, Mozumdar, & Schuna, 2011). The purpose of this study was to describe student PA levels and then compare perceived physical activity (PA) levels as reported by college students to objective measurement of PA levels by an Actigraph in order to better understand these measurement tools, as well as college students’ behaviors and perceptions of PA.
DESIGN: A descriptive, single-group prospective study design was used. Convenience snowball sampling was used to recruit college students with no issues ambulating on campus. Exclusion criteria included having a diagnosis of a musculoskeletal or neurological disorders that currently affect movement.
METHOD: At intake participants completed a gross motor screen to ensure eligibility and the International Physical Activity Questionnaire-Long (IPAQ-Long) for baseline assessment of perceived PA. The IPAQ-Long is a self-reported assessment that asks participants to consider the duration and intensity of any physical activity done over the past 7 days at work, in the home, for transportation, and for recreational purposes (Kim, Park, & Kang, 2013). Participants then wore an Actigraph for 7 consecutive days including nighttime. The Actigraph is a wrist-worn scientific activity monitor that tracks minute-by-minute physical activity, categorizing movement as sedentary, light, moderate, vigorous or very vigorous based on MET output patterns. Preliminary analysis using descriptive information from the activity monitors was completed with 15 participants. Full analysis will include 30 participants and comparisons of the two tools using descriptive statistics and correlations.
RESULTS: The preliminary sample (n=15) had 61% female participants and majority (61%) lived off campus with 50% commuting via driving. On average the participants wore the device for 1171 minutes daily demonstrating good compliance. Furthermore, the Actigraph data show that participants on average spent 44.4% (519 minutes) of their time sedentary, 42.1% (494 minutes) in light PA, 13.5% (158 minutes) in moderate PA, and 0% in vigorous to very vigorous PA weekly.
CONCLUSION: While students are engaging in no vigorous activity, the average of approximately 158 weekly minutes of moderate physical activity does meet the US Surgeon General’s minimum recommendation. Despite meeting these recommendations, the measured level of moderate PA may not be enough to overcome the amount of sedentary time observed. As we consider AOTA’s 2025 Vision and our profession’s increased focus on health and well-being, the amount of time college students are sedentary given their occupations such as attending class, studying, and screen time should be explored further and OT’s role for promoting health and well-being in this setting defined. Our findings suggest that college students could be at risk for the negative effects of spending long periods of time in sedentary and further analysis will demonstrate if these students perceive these threats. In addition, this study lays the foundation for OTs to make an impact on the short- and long-term health of college students by fostering roles, habits, and routines that maximize health and well-being.
References
Fountaine, C. J., Liguori, G. A., Mozumdar, A. & Schuna, J. M. (2011). Physical activity and screen time sedentary behaviors in college students. International Journal of Exercise Science, 4(2), 102-112.
Joseph, R.P., Royse, K.E., Benitez, T.J., Pekmezi, D.W. (2014) Physical activity and quality of life among university students: exploring self-efficacy, self-esteem, and affect as potential mediators. Quality of Life Research 23(2), 659-667. doi: 10.1007/s11136-013-0492-8
Peterson, N.E., Sirard, J.R., Kulbok, P.A., DeBoer, M.D., & Erickson, J.N. (2017). Sedentary behavior and physical activity of young adult university students. Research in Nursing and Health, 41(1),30-38. doi: 10.1002/nur.21845
Kim, Y., I. Park, & M. Kang (2013). Convergent validity of the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ): Meta-analysis. Public Health Nutrition, 16(3), 440-452.
