Physical Activity and Health-Related Quality of Life in Pregnant Women

Background:Physical activity (PA) and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) are significantly affected in pregnancy.Objectives:The aim of this study was to assess these constructs among Nigerian pregnant women and also examine the relationshipbetween them.Methods:A total of 140 pregnant women were recruited from four selected antenatal clinics in Ile-Ife, Osun State, Nigeria, whoparticipated in this cross-sectional study. The pregnancy physical activity questionnaire (PPAQ); consisting of 33 questions aimed atevaluating different day to day activities and SF-12 health survey; an eight scale grouped questionnaire were used to assess PA andHRQoL, respectively. Descriptive statistics (mean, standard deviation, frequency, and percentage) and inferential statistics (Pearsonproduct moment correlation and one-way ANOVA) were used for data analysis. Alpha level was set at P < 0.05.Results:The mean age of the participants was 30.4±4.33 years. Household (347.0±452.1) and vigorous intensity (14.3±30.8) PAconstituted the highest and least forms of PA. On the other hand, role limitation-physical (82.0±18.3) and health perception (82.0±18.0), and role limitation-mental (54.2±50), respectively were the highest and least rated scales on SF-12. The HRQoL scores werenot significantly different (P > 0.05) across the three trimesters of pregnancy except for physical functioning (P = 0.023). However,there were significant differences in PA across the three trimester of pregnancy (P < 0.05), except for vigorous intensity (P = 0.072),sport (P = 0.057), and occupational activity (P = 0.057). There were significant correlations among HRQoL sub-scales and each ofhousehold, occupational, and moderate intensity PA only (P < 0.05).Conclusions:Light to moderate intensity and household PA are predominant among Nigerian pregnant women than vigorousintensity, occupational, and sports-related PA. Higher health perception and physical role limitation in HRQoL were mostly demon-strated by the pregnant women. There was a significant inverse relationship between HRQoL and each of moderate intensity, occu-pational, and household PA.