Comparing gain - and loss -framed message on the level of physical activity of women employees of universities and higher education institutions

Background and Object:

 One of the effective ways to involve and participate people in health behaviors, including physical activity behavior, is providing health messages. The purpose of this study is to Comparing gain- and loss-framed message on the level of physical activity of women employees of universities and higher education institutions in Ahvaz city.

In this three-group intervention study, 105 female employees of universities and higher education institutions in Ahvaz city were randomly selected into three groups: recipients of gain -framed message, recipients of Loss-framed message and control groups were divided. The data collection tool in this study was the demographic information questionnaire and the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ). Information was collected from the three groups in 3 times, pre interventional stage, immediately and 2 months after the intervention. The collected data were analyzed by using SPSS 26 software.

The age average of the Participants was 38.4 ± 5.3 years. Before the intervention, mean scores for physical activity was5436.66±3950.05 in the gain-framed message group, in the loss-framed messages group was 5583.91±3922.25. Two months after the education, mean scores for physical activity in both the loss-framed messages and gain-framed messages groups showed a significant increase compared to the control group (P=0.004). Two months after the education, physical activity score in the gain-framed messages group was 8338.63±4395.07, in the loss-framed messages group was 6415.10±3909. It was also shown that this increase in the mean score of physical activity in gain message group is significantly more than the Loss message group (P=0.04).

The results of this study showed that, designing and implementing educational programs based on message framing can improve and promote physical activity behavior in female employees.