The effect of physical exercise on quality of life in pregnancy

Abstract

Objective: This study was conducted in order to determine the effects of physical exercising on quality of life in pregnancy. Material and Methods: The population of the study was formed by 580 pregnants who were registered to 10 family health center located in the city center of Malatya. The sample of the study, on the other hand, was formed by 230 pregnants who had minimal sample size according to known population sample size calculation. The data of this descriptive study was collected between October 2013 and September 2014 from the family health centers located in the city center of Malatya. The data were collected using pregnant introductory form, exercise benefit and barrier scale, quality of life scale. Percentage distributions, t-test, variance analysis (ANOVA), Kruskal-Wallis, Mann-Whitney U and Pearson correlation tests were used in the analysis of the data. Results: It was determined that 69.1% of the pregnants participating to the study did not know the benefits of exercising and 89.6% did not exercise. Quality of life mental health scores of those who exercised were determined to be higher and statistically significant (p<0.05). A positive correlation was determined between the exercise benefit scala and physical quality of life scores of the pregnants in this study (0.268, p=0.001). It was also detected that the more exercise performed led to higher total quality of life scores. Conclusion: Exercising was determined to positively affect the quality of life in pregnants. Therefore, it is recommended that nurses should give education regarding the importance and benefits of exercise during pregnancy in order to increase the quality of life.