Physical activity for healthy pregnancy among Iranian women: Perception of facilities versus perceived barriers

Regular physical activity during preconception period has beneficial effects on the health of women during conception and the identification of factors associated with it is an effective factor for improving the behavior. Therefore, the aim of this study is to evaluate the relationship between the physical activity and health belief model (HBM) constructs (perceived susceptibility/severity, barriers, and self-efficacy) as intrapersonal factors among women undergoing preconception care.

In this cross-sectional study, 110 women who were undergoing preconception care were carried out. Moreover, health belief constructs and attitude toward physical activity were assessed through the use of researcher-made questionnaire. In addition, the duration of physical activity with moderate/vigorous intensity was evaluated utilizing a long form of the International Physical Activity Questionnaire.

The results showed that although there was a relationship between the all health belief constructs and attitude toward physical activity and the duration of leisure physical activities carried out during (P < 0.05), but using the linear regression test showed that only perceived barriers, independent from other variables, had a significant inverse correlation with this type of activities (β = -0.27, P = 0.02).

The findings of this study showed that among the constructs of theHBM, perceived barriers are the most important predictor of physical activity in women during the preconception period and emphasize the need to design possible means to promote physical activity to remove barriers to effective physical activity.