Level of physical activity among people with multimorbidity in selected health facilities of Nepal

Abstract

Level of physical activity among people with multimorbidity in selected health facilities of Nepal Background: The prevalence of NCD is increasing; death and disability resulting from it is huge. With the increase in risk factors, habitual or environmental, the occurrence of more than one morbidity is starting to be a norm. Being physically active is one of the inevitable way of preventing, maintaining and reducing adverse effects from NCDs. Assessing physical activity level in multimorbidity can give a picture of its status and assessment of perception can how people are perceiving physical activity. Methods: A cross-sectional study with purposive convenience sampling was done. 195 people with multimorbidity aged 20-69 were interviewed using a questionnaire with demographics, GPAQ, and a self-made questionnaire for perception. Data analysis was done using SPSS. Frequencies were generated for demographic variables, according to level of physical activity and perception. The median physical activity was calculated for domains of GPAQ across demographic variables and for perception. Non parametric tests were done and spearman correlation for inferential statistics. Results: The number of morbidities ranged from 2-4 in one person, 4 was present in 4 female participants. 95% participants met the WHO criteria for physical activity. Median total physical activity was 3120 MET-minutes and median sedentary time per day was 2 hours. Significance between subgroups was evident in age (p=0.039) and ethnicity (p=0.00) only. Perception was good but people lacked behavioral change. Although professional support was present, it correlated negatively with physical activity(=-0.032;p=0.001). Conclusion: Like the other researches done in Nepal, this study showed a majority of participants had enough physical activity. Specific focus of physical activity and exercises, habitual change from a younger age, multidisciplinary care procedures may help to address proper plan for multimorbidity care. Keywords: multimorbidity, Nepal, perception, physical activity