Health Behavior Models and Regular Exercise Levels Among Workers in Taiwan

Abstract

Hsin-I Cheng,1,* Wei-Ting Hsu,2,3,* Wei-Hsun Wang,4,5 Ren-Hau Li,6,7 Feng-Cheng Tang,3,4,8 Shu-Ling Huang6,7 1Department of Rehabilitation, Taoyuan General Hospital, Ministry of Health and Welfare, Taoyuan, 330, Taiwan; 2Department of Construction Engineering, Chaoyang University of Technology, Taichung, 413, Taiwan; 3Department of Leisure Services Management, Chaoyang University of Technology, Taichung, 413, Taiwan; 4Department of Post-Baccalaureate Medicine, College of Medicine, National Chung Hsing University, Taichung, 402, Taiwan; 5Department of Orthopaedics, Changhua Christian Hospital, Changhua, 500, Taiwan; 6Department of Psychology, Chung Shan Medical University, Taichung, 402, Taiwan; 7Room of Clinical Psychology, Chung Shan Medical University Hospital, Taichung, 402, Taiwan; 8Department of Occupational Medicine, Changhua Christian Hospital, Changhua, 500, Taiwan*These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Shu-Ling Huang, Department of Psychology, Chung Shan Medical University, 110, Section 1, Jianguo North Road, South District, Taichung, 402, Taiwan, Tel [phone] ext. 12301, Fax [phone], Email [email protected] Feng-Cheng Tang, Department Occupational Medicine, Changhua Christian Hospital, 135 Nanhsiao Street, Changhua, 500, Taiwan, Tel [phone], Fax [phone], Email [email protected]: The present study aims to examine the disparate effects of health behavior models, namely exercise self-efficacy (ESE), health belief model (HBM), and planned behavior theory (PBT), applied to clarify the degree of regular exercise among workers in Taiwan.Methods: A cross-sectional research design was adopted. A questionnaire was distributed to obtain information pertaining to regular exercise level, demographic characteristics, and the scores of ESE, HBM, and PBT. In total, 400 full-time workers voluntarily participated in this study.Results: The results showed that only 20.5% of the participants exercised regularly, 37.3% exercised irregularly, and 42.3% did not exercise currently. “Perceived benefits” and “perceived barriers” pertaining to HBM; “attitude” and “perceived behavioral control” pertaining to PBT; and ESE were associated with regular exercise level in the multiple linear regression analyses of each health behavior model. When all three models were considered simultaneously, ESE provided the greatest explanation of the variances for regular exercise levels. PBT total made a smaller contribution in the prediction of regular exercise level, while the effect of HBM did not show statistical significance. In order to explore the practicality of moving beyond theoretical models and focusing on the components across health behavior models to enhance workers’ exercise behavior, the components showing statistical significance in separate analysis were put into the multiple linear regression simultaneously. The results showed that ESE, perceived barriers of health behavior, attitude, and perceived behavioral control were significantly associated with regular exercise level.Conclusion: A low percentage of workers exercising regularly should be a notable issue for workplace health promotion. Neither utilizing cues to exercise nor advertising health threats of physical inactivity is sufficient to enable workers to exercise regularly. Enhancing workers’ ESE and behavior control and removing the exercise barriers would constitute efficient strategies for maintaining the exercise habit of workers.Keywords: exercise, self-efficacy, health belief model, planned behavior theory, worker

Keywords

• exercise
• self-efficacy
• health belief model
• planned behavior theory
• worker