ISSN 2413-6077. IJMMR 2016 Vol. 2 Issue 2 37

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ISSN 2413-6077. IJMMR 2016 Vol. 2 Issue 2

doI 10.11603/IJMMR.2413-6077.2016.2.7032

PhYsIcAL AcTIvITY LEvELs IN fEmALE sTUdENTs Of TERNOPIL 
sTATE mEdIcAL UNIvERsITY

D. V. Popovych1, J. Bergier2, O. M. Sopel1, L. S. Tsybulska1, M. M. Korda1
I. HORBACHEVSKY TERNOPIL STATE MEDICAL UNIVERSITY, TERNOPIL, UKRAINE 1 

POPE JOHN PAUL II STATE SCHOOL OF HIGHER VOCATIONAL EDUCATION IN BIALA PODLASKA 2  

Background. Lifestyle is one of the major factors in the optimal development of systems and functions of 
human organism and health. The appropriate level of physical activity is the integral component of a healthy 
lifestyle.

Objective. The study was aimed to investigate the level of physical activity of the female students of Medical 
University.

Methods. We applied the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ) in the long version as a research 
method. 

Results. the study was conducted among 333 female students of Medical University of the first, second and 
third year of study. Detailed International Physical Activity Questionnaire evaluating physical activity, such as 
work, housework, sport, and physical activity during leisure time, was completed.

Conclusions. The examined female students of medical university are characterized by high level of total 
physical activity. Place of residence during the studies does not differentiate significantly the level of physical 
activity of female students.

KEY WORDS: physical activity, the International Physical Activity Questionnaire, female students, 
medical university.

Introduction 
lifestyle is one of the major factors in the 

optimal development of systems and functions 
of human organism and health. Healthy lifestyle 
is a way of living aimed at preserving and impro-
ving state of health. The appropriate level of 
phy  sical activity is the integral component of a 
healthy lifestyle (a natural biological need defi ned 
by the set of movements performed by a person) 
[1, 2]. Many scientific studies proved the value of 
physical activity for the human body [3–8].

Physical activity is an integral part of man's 
life which largely affects the cardiovascular and 
muscular-bone systems of the body, and has a 
significant impact on body metabolism. In 
current living conditions people focus less on 
physical activity due to well-developed trans-
porting infrastructure, sedentary work and 

passi  ve rest at home. Such way of live may lead 
to the development of various health risks. At 
lack of physical activity and excessive neuro-
emotional stress the functional state of the 
central nervous system, as a mediator between 
the muscles and internal organs, is damaged. 
This causes the dysfunction of individual organs 
and systems of the body and contributes to the 
development of various diseases.

The influence of physical activity on human 
health is widely recognized and studied among 
international researchers [9–13]. The issues of 
physical activity of students both in bio-phy-
siological and cultural terms are more and more 
commonly discussed on different conti nents: 
South Asian [14], South Africa [15, 16], europe 
[17–19] and in other different countries [6, 7, 
20–22], including medical universities students 
[23–26].

The research studies [6, 7] show the tenden-
cy of the decrease of physical activity among 
students of higher educational institutions. 
Therefore, the subject of our research was to 

International Journal of Medicine and Medical Research 
2016, volume 2, Issue 2, p. 37-41
copyright © 2016, TSMU, All Rights Reserved

Corresponding author: Dariya Popovych, Department of 
Physical Rehabilitation, Human Health and Physical Education, 
I. Horbachevsky Ternopil State Medical University, 1 Maidan 
Voli, Ternopil, Ukraine, 46001
Phone number: +380352253669
E-mail: kozak@tdmu.edu.ua

d. V. Popovych et al.



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investigate the level of physical activity of the 
female students of Ternopil State Medical 
University.

Material and Methods
The study was conducted among 333 

female students of Ternopil State Medical 
University during October 2015. The participants 
were the first­, second­ and third­year­students 
aged 17-20 years old. The total of 333 female 
students included: 106 first­year­students 
(31.83%), 116 second-year-students (34.83%), 
and 111 third-year-students (33.33%). They 
were asked to complete questionnaires on 
demographic and general physical activity. We 
applied the International Physical Activity 
Questionnaire (IPAQ) in the long version [27] 
as a research method. Detailed International 
Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ) evalua-
ting physical activity, such as work, housework, 
sport, and physical activity during leisure time 
was completed. Dependence analyses were 
carried out using t-test and Pearson correlation 
coefficient. The level of statistical significance 
was adopted at p<0.05.

Results 
The results of the research have shown sig-

nificantly higher level of total physical activity 
of female students 5590.2 MeT min/week than 
in Poland [28] and Turkey [20]. On the basis of 
the International Physical Activity Questionnaire 
(IPAQ) it was evidenced that the activity asso-
ciated with work amounted 1428.9 MeT min/
week. In case of the activity associated with 
movement it amounted 1443.7 MeT min/week. 
For physical activity associated with housework 

the results were recorded at 1162.2 MeT min/
week. Рhysical activity in sport amounted 1555.4 
MeT min/week. Thus, the highest level of phy-
sical activity was identified in female students 
during sports workouts and the lowest during 
housework, but these results did not diffe-
rentiate significantly (Fig. 1).

Based on the data obtained from IPAQ 
questionnaire on the course of study, we ana-
lysed the dynamics of physical activity during 
in the learning process. We established that the 
highest level of total physical activity of 6955.8 
MeT prevails in sophomores, which is by 24.42% 
higher than the total-level of PA, while the 
lowest level of total physical activity of 3855.5 
MeT was found in the third-year female stu_
dents, which is by 31.0% less than the total level 
of PA. Such high rate of physical activity index 
in the second-year-students was observed due 
to high levels of physical activity at work/study, 
which was in 2812.7 MeT (40.43%), when the 
index of physical activity at home was 1212.2 
MeT (17.42%), in the sport — 1519.4 MeT 
(21.84%), and the rest — 1411.6 MeT (20.29%). 
However, in the third-year female students 
compared to the students of the first and 
second years of study the lowest level of 
physical activity during work/training of 463.3 
MeT (12.01%), with activity around the house 
of 939.1 MeT (24.35%), in the sport — 1380.7 MeT 
(35.81%), and the rest — 1072.4 MeT (27.81%) 
was evidenced. When comparing different 
types of activities of the female students, 
excluding physical activity during work / study, 
it was found that freshman have higher physical 
activity among students at home — 1341.3 MeT, 
in sport — 1777.7 MeT, and the rest — 1867.6 MeT, 

Figure 1. The level and areas of physical activity of the female students

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ISSN 2413-6077. IJMMR 2016 Vol. 2 Issue 2

than the second- and third-year female stu-
dents, which have the lowest physical activity 
in all types of physical activity (Fig. 2, Table 1).

We found it interesting to discover whether 
the place of living of the recipients influence 
upon the level of their physical activity. Three 
places of residence were used for the analysis: 
dormitory, family home and parents’ apartment. 
Also this combination showed no significant 
differences in the total physical activity of the 
female students depending on the place of daily 
residence (Fig. 3, Table 2).

Discussion
As a result of our research we have disco-

vered a high level of overall physical activity in 
female students of Medical University (55902 
MeT min/week). After analysing the dynamics 
of physical activity of female students depending 
on the year of study we have found out that the 
highest overall physical activity (6955.8 MeT) 
prevailed in the second-year students. Such 
high rate of physical activity in sophomores was 
due to high level of physical activity at work/
study (it was 40.43% of the total recipients of 

physical activity). This fact can be explained by 
the location of university departments and 
buildings, where classes for the second-year-
students took place and by the lack of direct 
transportation between those locations. The 
average level of physical activity at the work/
school is 463.3 MeT in the third-year-students 
and it may explained by the increased duration 
of classes. In all other areas of physical activity 
(work, at home, leisure or sport) students 
showed high level of the researched activity, 
but it tended to slight decrease from the first 
to the third year of study. As for the residence 
of students, no direct connection between the 
place of residence (dormitory, apartment or 
parents’ house) and the physical activity was 
found [17].

Thus, we can assume that regardless of the 
year of study and the place of residence the 
main factor of physical activity type among the 
female students of medical university is their 
correct (common sense) understanding of the 
role of this factor in a healthy lifestyle. 

However, is should be emphasised that a 
questionnaire is the cheapest method of collec-

Table 1. The differentiation of the level and areas of physical activity of the female students  
with regard to the year of study

Kruskal-Wallis Test
Physical Activity Type H p Differentiation

Total activity 29,47 0,0001* 1-3; 2-3**
Activity at work 38,21 0,0001* 1-2,3; 2-3**
Activity while commuting 14,30 0,0008* 1-3**
Activity at home 7,84 0,0198* 1-3**
Sport activity 8,47 0,0145* 1-3**

Note. * — significant differences at p<0,05; ** — years of study between which there is a statistically significant variation.

Figure 2. The level and areas of physical activity of the female students with regard to the year of study 

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ting data on a large number of respondents 
(national and international research) regardless 
of their sex, age or health [29].

Conclusions
The female students of medical university 

are characterized by high level of total physical 
activity compared with the male students.

Figure 3. The level and areas of physical activity of the female students with regard to the place of residence

Table 2. The differentiation of the level and areas of physical activity of the female students  
with regard to the place of residence

Kruskal-Wallis Test
Physical activity Type H p Differentiation

Total activity 0,32 0,8505 -
Activity at work 0,58 0,7477 -
Activity while commuting 0,11 0,9484 -
Activity at home 2,03 0,3616 -
Sport activity 5,14 0,0767 -

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The highest level of total physical activity 
prevails in the second-year female students.

The place of residence during the studies 
(dormitory, family house or apartment) does 
not differentiate significantly the level of 
physical activity of the female students.

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