The subjective profile of positive health and survival abilities in women differing as to physical activity

Abstract

Background The main aim of the study is to define the profile of positive health and survival abilities in women differing as to physical activity. Thus formulated study aim was connected with answering the following question: do young women, undergraduate students at the Faculty of Tourism and Recreation, who declare daily physical activity substantially differ from their peers declaring occasional activity in the sense of positive health in all its aspects and in self-assessment of their survival abilities? Material/Methods: The profile of women's positive health and survival abilities was defined on the basis of Kalina's original methodology (2012) taking into account four aspects of indices: the somatic (A), mental (B), social (C) and reflecting survival abilities (D) ones. The arithmetic mean calculated for indices A to D represents the most general index of the Sense of Positive Health and Survival Abilities (SPHSA). The studied group was composed of female students from the Faculty of Tourism and Recreation completing their education at the undergraduate level (6 th semester). 24 students declared daily physical activity, and 34 students the occasional one. The subjects' age was within the range of 20-23 years (21.24±0.99). Results: Women declaring daily physical activity surpass their occasionally active peers in the SPHSA index-3.740 and 3.427, respectively (p<0.01). The highest value of indices in both groups was noted in social health (4.08 and 3.95), while the lowest one in the survival ability (3.5 and 3.165). Students who are active every day have statistically higher values than their occasionally active peers in the following indices: aerobic capacity (p<0.01), flexibility (p<0.001), muscular power (p<0.001), lesser aggressiveness (p<0.05), anxiety (p<0.001), skill of safe falling (p<0.05), and the ability to act precisely before and after physical activity (p<0.05). Conclusions: Physical activity constitutes an important factor modifying the sense of positive health and the survival ability. The structure of the SPHSA profile was similar in both groups. The differences regarded the intensity of those aspects which undergo the greatest changes under the influence of physical activity: somatic and mental health.

Subjective health profiles among the Ukrainian school youth from medical school

“…The result of the statistical analysis of five independent groups of specialties taking four changing health profiles into consideration: somatic, mental, social and survival skill, indicate a clear growth of specified indexes, similarly to the studies of Kalina [2], Jagiełło et al [14] and Bergier [15].…”

“…Survival skill is the lowest evaluated, as confirmed by recent studies conducted among students from Medical majors [15], Physical Education [14] and Physiotherapy [2]. It should be noted that in studies conducted among students of Medical majors, survival skill was assessed much higher than other values.…”

Variables Differentiating Positive Health Profiles and Survival Abilities Among Ukrainian Students Attending Post-Secondary Medical School

“…Similar evaluations were expressed by students of medical specialties 4.38 (±0.63) [19] students of physiotherapy 4.14 (±0.59) [7], and students of tourism and recreation 4.08 (±0.52) [20].…”

“…Students at the University of Physical Education evaluated the level of their survival abilities in the most negative terms [7,20]. The school adolescents in the study also obtained the lowest indicators in the survival abilities profile.…”

“…Based on the to-date application of the analyzed questionnaire [7] among university students was found that the overall health index indicator remained within the range of values from 3.50-3.80, with the highest values observed in the specialty of nursing -3.79, followed by public health 3.78 [19], and tourism and recreation -3.74 [20]. The value of this indicator among the school adolescents examined was clearly lower 2.92 (±0.36), which may result from their poorer knowledge of the problems of health, compared to the examined students.…”