Date of Award
Spring 5-2017
Degree Type
Honors College Thesis
Department
Human Performance and Recreation
First Advisor
David Dolbow
Advisor Department
Human Performance and Recreation
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between physical activity levels in college students and health related quality of life scores. Additional analysis was used to determine whether more of a relationship exists between female or male students’ in terms of activity versus quality of life.
Methods
Students for this study were gathered through their involvement in kinesiology based organizations on campus. Two surveys were utilized, the Global Physical Activity Questionnaire and the Health Related Quality of Life survey. Students were also asked to record their gender, which allowed for the second analysis. After scoring the activity levels via the World Health Organization’s scoring template, the data was analyzed using correlation coefficients to determine if relationships existed.
Results
In a sample size of 24, the Pearson’s correlation value between the HRQoL survey and the total MET minute values was 0.410. The significance of the two variables was p= 0.047. Further comparison of these two surveys between male and female participants yielded varying answers. Pearson’s correlation for female respondents only (n=17) was 0.375 and p= 0.138. For male respondents only (n=7), Pearson’s r value was equal to 0.496, and p= 0.258.
Conclusion
Overall examination of the data allowed for the conclusion that the two variables (physical activity and health related quality of life) were significantly related, with a positive correlation value. However, limited participation and an uneven distribution of female to male participants made it more difficult to compare significant gender differences. However, positively correlated trends were exhibited by the existing data. More research should be conducted in this area, with a larger sample size. This will allow for the inclusion of more participants, and yield more varied responses.
Copyright
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Recommended Citation
Boozer, Sarah J., "Effect of Physical Activity on Quality of Life for College Students: A Comparative Gender Study" (2017). Honors Theses. 526.
https://aquila.usm.edu/honors_theses/526