Self-reported exercise behaviour and perception of its importance to recreational divers

© 2017 PSMTTM. Background: This study examined self-reported physical activity and perceptions of exercise importance among certified divers in two distinct age groups. Materials and methods: Questionnaires were distributed by hand at dive sites in three states of the United States, half to students...

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Main Authors: Kovacs, C., Buzzacott, Peter
Format: Journal Article
Published: Wydawnictwo Via Medica 2017
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/72271
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author Kovacs, C.
Buzzacott, Peter
author_facet Kovacs, C.
Buzzacott, Peter
author_sort Kovacs, C.
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description © 2017 PSMTTM. Background: This study examined self-reported physical activity and perceptions of exercise importance among certified divers in two distinct age groups. Materials and methods: Questionnaires were distributed by hand at dive sites in three states of the United States, half to students from an academic programme in scuba diving at a regional university. The survey included questions about health status, dive history, certification levels, structured exercise activity levels and perceived importance of regular exercise to their health, diving ability, and safety. Also included was the Godin-Shephard Leisure-Time Physical Activity Questionnaire, a validated physical activity classification instrument for use among adults. Results: Non-students were older than the students and had greater diving experience. There was no detectable difference between groups in perceived exercise importance to health (p = 0.69), diving ability (p = 0.75), or diving safety (p = 0.25). Fitting age, sex, occupation and number of dives to a generalised linear model to predict Godin-Shephard scores, number of dives was removed first (p = 0.43), followed by student status (p = 0.33). Remaining predictors of Godin-Shephard exercise scores were age (-0.004 per year, p < 0.0001) and sex (males = + 0.11, 95% CI 0.04-0.17, p = 0.0012). Both groups reported similar structured exercise regularity, overall health and perceived importance of regular exercise for health, diving and safety. Conclusions: Despite acknowledging the importance of exercise, Godin-Shephard scores for physical activity decrease with age.
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spelling curtin-20.500.11937-722712021-01-05T08:07:07Z Self-reported exercise behaviour and perception of its importance to recreational divers Kovacs, C. Buzzacott, Peter © 2017 PSMTTM. Background: This study examined self-reported physical activity and perceptions of exercise importance among certified divers in two distinct age groups. Materials and methods: Questionnaires were distributed by hand at dive sites in three states of the United States, half to students from an academic programme in scuba diving at a regional university. The survey included questions about health status, dive history, certification levels, structured exercise activity levels and perceived importance of regular exercise to their health, diving ability, and safety. Also included was the Godin-Shephard Leisure-Time Physical Activity Questionnaire, a validated physical activity classification instrument for use among adults. Results: Non-students were older than the students and had greater diving experience. There was no detectable difference between groups in perceived exercise importance to health (p = 0.69), diving ability (p = 0.75), or diving safety (p = 0.25). Fitting age, sex, occupation and number of dives to a generalised linear model to predict Godin-Shephard scores, number of dives was removed first (p = 0.43), followed by student status (p = 0.33). Remaining predictors of Godin-Shephard exercise scores were age (-0.004 per year, p < 0.0001) and sex (males = + 0.11, 95% CI 0.04-0.17, p = 0.0012). Both groups reported similar structured exercise regularity, overall health and perceived importance of regular exercise for health, diving and safety. Conclusions: Despite acknowledging the importance of exercise, Godin-Shephard scores for physical activity decrease with age. 2017 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/72271 10.5603/IMH.2017.0021 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Wydawnictwo Via Medica fulltext
spellingShingle Kovacs, C.
Buzzacott, Peter
Self-reported exercise behaviour and perception of its importance to recreational divers
title Self-reported exercise behaviour and perception of its importance to recreational divers
title_full Self-reported exercise behaviour and perception of its importance to recreational divers
title_fullStr Self-reported exercise behaviour and perception of its importance to recreational divers
title_full_unstemmed Self-reported exercise behaviour and perception of its importance to recreational divers
title_short Self-reported exercise behaviour and perception of its importance to recreational divers
title_sort self-reported exercise behaviour and perception of its importance to recreational divers
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/72271