Factors associated with a history of practicing physical activity among pregnant women

Abstract

It is very important to know about external factors that may influence or cause harmful events during pregnancy, since these may lead to infant morbidity-mortality. On the other hand, it is known that the practice of guided physical activity during pregnancy brings benefits. The aim of this study was to descriptively evaluate the sociodemographic, health and lifestyle characteristics of pregnant women with a history of practicing physical activity. This was an exploratory cross-sectional study on 164 pregnant women divided into two groups: GROUP 1 consisted of women with a history of practicing physical activity, and GROUP 2 consisted of women without such histories. All subjects answered a questionnaire to collect sociodemographic and lifestyle data, in addition to their histories of practicing physical activity. Firstly, the frequencies of the study variables were estimated and then association measurements (prevalence ratios and 95% confidence intervals) between the history of practicing physical activity and the variables in question were obtained. The results showed precariousness of access to primary healthcare services, low income and schooling levels and a lack of regular physical activity practices before and during pregnancy.