The Investigation of Factors Relevant to Participation in Physical Activities in Employees of Baqiyatallah University of Medical Sciences

One of the important and strategic factors in economic and social development of each nation and government is human resource development and human power improvement. Lack of movement not only stops growing but also causes depression, behavioral disorders and loss of passion and happiness in life. Sport activity is a proper and efficient strategy to provide physical and psychological health. Today, experts view sport activities as an effective strategy to create calmness and to reduce stress. For this purpose, the current study examined the factors relevant to participation and lack of participation of some employees in sport activities. The research method was survey and field. The research population involved all employees in Baqiyatallah University of Medical Sciences, and a sample of 385 subjects was selected through stratified random sampling method. To analyze research data, descriptive statistics and an inferential statistics such as Pearson’s correlation test, as well as analysis of variance test and independent t test were applied. The results showed that lack of motivation, stress, psychasthenia, physical disability and physical limitations were personal restrictive factors; lack of time, much responsibilities, lack of facilities andequipment were found to be organizational restrictive factors among employees of Baqiyatallah University that prevented them from participating in sport activities. In addition, there was no significant relationship between five personality factors and the rate of participating in sport activity except for extroversion factor. It seems that there exists various motivational factors for university employees to participate in sport activities and their participation can increase through elimination of the restrictive factors.