Identification of Factors Influencing Iranian (Above the Age of 18) Women’s Drop out of Sport Activities with a Qualitative Approach

The aim of this study was to identify those factors affecting Iranian women’s drop out of sport activities who were above the age of 18. This study was qualitative with grounded theory design that was carried out as a field. The statistical population consisted of all Iranian women above the age of 18 who had dropped out of their organized sport activities for at least one year. Sampling was conducted in two stages. In the first stage, seven provincial centers were randomly selected. In the second stage, purposive snowball sampling method was used to select the sample. Semi-structured interviews were used to collect data. After 33 interviews and reaching the theoretical saturation, qualitative content analysis was used to analyze the data and to identify the factors. The results showed that 5 alternative codes (personal factors, interpersonal factors, service quality, environmental factors and management factors) were identified in the factors affecting women’s drop out of sport. In each category, psychological factors, family obligations, access to sport facilities, dominant culture and advertising were the most important reasons for dropping out of sport activities. According to these results, that rate of women's drop out of sport activities may decline if the benefits of sport activities are emphasized, educational plans are provided to increase women's information about the effects of sport on health, the public awareness is raised to share marital responsibilities and duties and gyms are constructed with standard and perfect facilities according to the needs of women.