INSUFFICIENT PHYSICAL ACTIVITY AND ASSOCIATED FACTORS AMONG EMPLOYEES OF JIGJIGA UNIVERSITY, EASTERN ETHIOPIA

Abstract

Low and middle-income countries take over 85% of premature deaths due to NCDs. Insufficient physical activity (IPA) remains to be key risk factor for non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in worldwideUnderstanding the status and factors associated with insufficient physical activity is very crucial for the development of cost-effective health interventions against NCDs.However, there are limited studies regarding insufficient physical activity and associated factors in Ethiopia. Objective: To assess the status of insufficient physical activity and associated factors among employees of Jigjiga University, Eastern Ethiopia, from September 20 to October 20, 2020 Method: Institutional based cross sectional study design was employed among 485 employees in Jigjiga University. Pretested Global physical activity questionnaire (GPAQ) version 2 was used to collect the data through face-to-face interview. Stratified random sampling technic was used to select the study participants from each college and department. Data was entered in to EPIdata version 3.1 and exported to STATA version 16 for analysis. Bi-variable and Multi-variable binary logistic regression analysis was carried out to assess the association between outcome and the predictor variables. Those variables with P-value less than 0.05 was considered as significant. Result: This study reveled that 54.4% (95% CI: 49%- 58.9%) of employees were insufficiently active. Female employees were 2.49 times (AOR=2.49 95% CI: 1.64 -3.77) more likely to be insufficiently active. Age group from 40-49 were 2.03 times (AOR=2.03 95% CI: 1.13-3.64) and 50-65 were 3.29 times (AOR=3.29 95% CI: 1.66-6.51) more likely to be insufficiently active. Employees with Poor social support were 3.00 times (AOR=3.00 95% CI: 2.01-4.48) more likely to be insufficiently active. Conclusion: In this study more than half of the employees had insufficient physical activity. Therefore, especial attention should be given to female employees, older employees and employee with poor social support. In addition, workplace health promoting programs must be undertaken by the University to decrease insufficient physical activity and sedentary behaviours, which will result in the prevention and reduction of the risk for NCD.