Sport and Physical Activity Level Impacts Health-Related Quality of Life Among Collegiate Students

• Published in: American journal of health promotion Vol. 33; no. 5; pp. 675 - 682
• Main Authors: Snedden, Traci R., Scerpella, John, Kliethermes, Stephanie A., Norman, Rocío S., Blyholder, Liga, Sanfilippo, Jen, McGuine, Timothy A., Heiderscheit, Bryan
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Los Angeles, CA SAGE Publications 01.06.2019; American Journal of Health Promotion
• Subjects: Activity level; Adolescent; Age Factors; Athletes; Athletes - psychology; Athletes - statistics & numerical data; College students; Cross-Sectional Studies; Exercise; Female; Health promotion; Health status; Health technology assessment; Humans; Inactive; Male; Mental health; Mental Health - statistics & numerical data; Physical activity; Polls & surveys; Prospective Studies; Quality of Life; Self evaluation; Sex Factors; Sports - psychology; Sports - statistics & numerical data; Students - psychology; Students - statistics & numerical data; Undergraduate students; United States; Universities; Veterans; Young Adult; United States; well-being; VR-12; mental health; college students; physical activity
• ISSN: 0890-1171; 2168-6602
• DOI: 10.1177/0890117118817715

Purpose: To examine and compare the role of self-assessed sport and physical activity involvement on the health-related quality of life among undergraduate student-athletes and general undergraduate college students. Design: Cross-sectional survey. Data set was examined for differences in physical and mental health by self-assessed sport and physical activity level. Setting: Large Midwestern University in the fall of 2016. Participants: A combined data set representing undergraduate Division I student athletes (n = 842) and general undergraduate students (n = 1322). Measures: Veterans RAND 12 Item Health Survey (VR-12), as measure of health-related quality of life, comprised of physical component score (PCS) and mental component score (MCS). Self-assessed sport and physical activity level categorized as Division I athlete, club athlete, intramural player, student who works out regularly, or student who is physically inactive. Analysis: Standard univariable statistics described the study population. Two-sample t tests and χ2 tests were conducted, as appropriate, to compare Division I student-athletes to the general undergraduate group. Multivariable linear regression models were then built to assess associations between physical activity level and year in school with VR-12 outcomes, after adjusting for sex. All pairwise interactions were considered for inclusion in the final models. Adjusted least-square means were calculated for all variables in the model; pairwise comparisons were adjusted for multiple comparisons via Tukey-Kramer adjustment criteria. A linear test for trend was also conducted for the association between VR-12 MCS and increasing physical activity. Results: Significant differences in MCS were noted between levels of sport and physical activity; however, such differences were not detected in PCS. After controlling for sex, a positive relationship between increased sport and physical activity level and greater MCS was found. Conclusions: This study represents the first prospective assessment of health-related quality of life among undergraduate athletes and general college students. Higher levels of sport and physical activity were associated with more positive mental health in these populations.