Insufficient physical activity is an issue warranting attention from healthcare providers and international public health agencies. Numerous people die from chronic disease, and one of the primary reasons is physical inactivity. Physical inactivity is one of the leading causes of morbidity, disability and premature mortality. Public health nurses (PHNs) are important promoters and are in the frontline to serve and safeguard health of the public, but there have been few studies investigating the physical activity of PHNs. To maintain public health, the health of nurses must receive appropriate attention. The development of physical activity self-management project not only can help improve the physical activity and health conditions among PHNs but also can promote it to more healthcare providers and the public.
Methods:
A randomized clinical trial with the experimental and control groups was used in this study. All the 110 PHNs in the Kaohsiung City were recruited to participate. The participants were randomly assigned to the experimental group (n=55) and control group (n=55). The experimental group received the “i walking APP” self-management intervention and the control group received 3-time e-mail reminders to engage in physical activity during the study period. All the instruments measuring the physiological indicators (body mass index and waist circumference), physical activity intention and physical activity were evaluated for validity and reliability.
Results:
The physiological indicators (body mass index and waist circumference), physical activity intention and physical activity were collected for both the experimental and control groups as baseline data before the intervention. The follow-ups were conducted at 1 month, 3 months, and 6 months after the intervention. There were no significant differences in terms of physiological indicators (body mass index and waist circumference), physical activity intention, weekly walking time, and daily sedentary time at 1-month and 3-month follow-ups in both of the experimental and control groups. After six months of the intervention, in the experimental group, the physical activity intention (p< 0.001) and weekly walking time (p< 0.001) had significant increase, and daily sedentary time had significant decrease (p< 0.001); however, the body mass index and waist circumference showed no significant difference (p> 0.05) between the baseline data and the data collected at 6 months after the intervention. In the control group, weekly walking time had significant decrease (p=0.0058); and physical activity intention, daily sedentary time, body mass index and waist circumference showed no significant difference (p> 0.05) between the baseline data and the data collected at 6 months after the intervention. By using the Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) to adjust the baseline data, age, and education of the PHNs, the findings showed that “i walking APP” self-management intervention could significantly improve the physical activity intention and weekly walking time, and significantly decrease the daily sedentary time, body mass index and waist circumference (p < 0.001).
Conclusion:
Walking is an easy way to engage in physical activity. The physical activity self-management by using “i walking APP” not only can help PHNs monitor self- condition of physical activity but also can help them set goals to maintain the plan of physical activity. The engagement of physical activity of the PHNs can further play a role model for health promotion and community health services. It is expected that the “i walking APP” can apply to more healthcare providers and the public to promote physical activity and improve health conditions.