A Longitudinal Study of Physical Activity Patterns and Change Trajectory during Pregnancy

Abstract

BackgroundPhysical activity during pregnancy has recently been considered as an essential part of reproductive health, and pregnant women are encouraged to adopt an active lifestyle instead of traditionally restricting their activities. Studies from abroad have shown that pregnancy physical activity gradually decreases with the progress of pregnancy. Domestic studies on the patterns and changes of pregnancy physical activity are still insufficient.ObjectiveTo explore the pattern of physical activity in the first, second and third trimesters of pregnancy, and its change trajectory, providing a reference for the formulation of targeted interventions.MethodsConvenience sampling was used to select low-risk pregnant women from Obstetric Clinic, Jiangmen Wuyi Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine from May 2017 to May 2018. All had a health file created at 6-13+6 weeks' gestation at the first antenatal examination. A self-developed questionnaire was used to collect general demographic data. The Chinese version of the Pregnancy Physical Activity Questionnaire was used to investigate physical activity in the first, second and third trimesters of pregnancy. Patterns and changes of physical activity were analyzed by the stage of pregnancy.ResultsAmong the 312 participants, except for 48 excluded cases and 15 dropouts, the other 249 who completed the survey were finally included. The average weekly metabolic equivalent of task (MET) values for the respondents in the first, second and third trimesters of pregnancy were 201.7, 188.6, and 177.2 MET-hours, respectively. Sedentary activity, light-intensive activity, moderate-intensive activity, and vigorous-intensive activity accounted for 17%, 60%, 21.2%-24.4%, and less than 1% of the energy expenditure attributable to total activity, respectively. In terms of activity type, household/caregiving, occupational, transportation and sports/exercise accounted for 48%, 40%, 9%, and less than 3% of the energy expenditure attributable to total activity, respectively. The differences in MET values of sedentary activity, light-intensive activity, moderate-intensive activity, and vigorous-intensive activity, household activity, sports/exercise, and total activity across three stages of pregnancy were statistically significant (P<0.05) . Among which, the MET values of sedentary activity, moderate-intensive activity, household activity, and total activity in the third trimester were much lower than those in the first trimester, with a statistically significant difference (P<0.05) .ConclusionTo improve maternal and infant health, healthcare workers should encourage pregnant women to reduce their sedentary time, and give them individualized physical activity recommendations and guidance. The second trimester may be the best time to promote physical activity.

Keywords

• |pregnancy|physical activity patterns|change trajectory