Quality of life, stages of behavioral changes and physical activity level of Physical Education students

Resumen

The aim of this study was to identify the stages of behavioral change (SBC) and compare quality of life (QOL) and physical activity level between first-year and last-year undergraduate Physical Education students at a public university in Pernambuco state, Northeastern Brazil. This is a descriptive study with a cross-sectional design. The sample consisted of 199 undergraduate Physical Education students, enrolled in the first, second, seventh and eighth semesters of their course, with a mean age of 21.32 ± 4.00 years, of which 61.80% were first-year students (enrolled in the first and second semesters). Behavioral change was verified with the SBC questionnaire, QOL with the WHOQOL-Bref and physical activity level with the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ). Student’s t-test and Chi-square test were used for data analysis, with a 5% significance level. The most prevalent SBC was in the Action stage (first-year students: 53.3% and last-year students: 43.9%). There were significant differences in the social (p <0.01) and environmental (p<0.01) domains. Regarding the physical activity level, 82.93% of first-year students and 86.84% of last-year students were physically active. Both groups of students showed relatively positive QOL, SBC and physical activity level, although QOL differed in terms of sociability and environmental adaptation.