Profiles of exercise adherence in late pregnancy: a latent profile analysis among Chinese women

The advantages of physical activity and exercise interventions for pregnant women largely rely on sustained adherence. This study aimed to identify latent categories of exercise adherence among women in the third trimester of pregnancy and to examine the factors associated with these distinct profiles.

Convenience sampling was applied to recruit participants from three maternal and child health hospitals in China between November 2024 and June 2025. Latent profile analysis (LPA) was employed to determine potential classes of exercise adherence among pregnant women in the third trimester, and multinomial logistic regression was conducted to examine factors related to these profiles.

A total of 531 participants were enrolled in this study. Of them, only 23.4% achieved the recommended exercise level and were categorized as having high (n = 59), moderate (n = 239), and low adherence (n = 233) to exercise. Compared with the high-adherence group, the associated factors for the low-adherence group included weekly exercise habits, pelvic floor muscle training (PFMT), self-efficacy, social support, enjoyment of exercise, competing commitments, limited time, and fatigue. In contrast, those for the mid-adherence group were education level, weekly exercise habits, self-efficacy, social support, lack of time, and fatigue.

Exercise adherence among pregnant women can be grouped into three distinct categories. Health professionals should design targeted interventions according to the socio-psychological characteristics of women in the third trimester to enhance their adherence to exercise.