Evaluation of Physical Activity Status Among Middle-Aged Population of Iran

Inadequate physical activity is one of the main causes of chronic diseases in adult and elderly individuals. The aim of this study was to evaluate the status of physical activity in middle-aged people (30-59 years) in Iran.

This cross-sectional study was conducted in 2020 on 4112 middle-aged population (30-59 years old) of the country using systematic proportional to size cluster sampling from five universities of medical sciences (Mashhad, Guilan, Alborz, Bushehr and Kermanshah) located in five different geographical areas were selected.The physical activity of individuals was assessed by Global Physical Activity Questionnaire (GPAQ) has been used in WHO STEPS methods. Data analysis was performed in Stata software version 14 using Chi-square test and logistic regression model.

The mean and standard deviation of the age of the subjects was 42.4 ± 7.8 years (men: 42.3±7 7.9 and women: 42.5 ± 7.8 years). According to the results, 61.3% (men:55.1%,women:67.6%) had insufficient physical activity. The percentage of appropriate physical activity was significantly higher in men than women (P <0.001) and in people with higher education (P <0.001) than people with less education.

Based on the findings of the present study, 61.3% of the middle-aged population of Iran do not have enough physical activity. Designing and implemention of interventional programs to increase the physical activity and prevent of main non-communicable diseases in this age group seems to be necessary.