Assessment of Physical Activity among Students in Selected Government Nursing Training Schools in Western Province of Sri Lanka: A Descriptive Cross-sectional Study.

Abstract

Background: The World Health Organization defines physical activity (PA) as any energy demanding body movement and engaging in moderate or vigorous PA promotes health. Nurses are a distinct group of professionals at increased risk of physical inactivity and they should practice healthy routines for improved health thereby providing better patient care.

Objective: To determine the level of physical activity among nursing students from three selected Government Nursing Training Schools (NTS) in the Western Province of Sri Lanka Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among 267 voluntarily consented nursing students selected by stratified sampling technique, from government NTS in Colombo, Kalutara, and Kandana in the Western Province of Sri Lanka. NTS student registers were used as the sampling frame and participants were selected randomly from first, second and third year students. The level of PA was measured using the validated International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ) in the Sri Lankan context. PA was categorized based on Metabolic Equivalent of Task (MET) minutes/week as inactive (<600 METs), minimally active (600-2999 METs), and health-enhancing physically active (>3000 METs). Descriptive analysis was performed using SPSS version 25.0.

Results: Of the nursing students, the majority were in their second year (83%, n=221), and females (94%, n=250) with a mean age of 25±3 years. Most students were inactive (39%, n=105), and 25% (n=66) were minimally active. Only 36% (n=96) were engaged in health-enhancing physical activity with an average MET minutes/week of 2696.46±2789.81. The average sitting time per day was 8±4 hours. Conclusions: This study revealed that most of the nursing students were not engaged in PA adequately. Study findings emphasize the need to promote PA among nursing students of NTS in the Western Province. Future research should explore effective interventions to uplift PA level of the NTS students in the Western Province of Sri Lanka.