Prevalence and factors associated with exercise in pregnant women in Dessie town health facilities, Ethiopia

Background: Physical exercise (PEx) consists of planned, repetitive and intentional movements that can reduce the risk of pregnancy related complications. Worldwide, there is a high rate of physical inactivity during pregnancy. Therefore, this study aimed to assess prevalence and factors associated with practice of PEx during pregnancy among antenatal care attendants at selected health facilities in Dessie town, Ethiopia, 2023. Methods: An institutional based cross-sectional study was conducted among 642 pregnant women receiving antenatal care service from 20th May to 20th July, 2023. The study participants were selected by using systematic random sampling technique. Data were collected through pretested, face to face interviewer-administered. The data were cleaned, coded and entered into EPIDATA version 4.6 and analyzed by SPSS version 25. Binary logistic regression analysis was performed to identify factors associated with practice of PEx during pregnancy. Finally, the AOR at 95% confidence interval with p<0.05 in multivariable analysis were considered to declare a variable is statistically significant. Results: The prevalence of practice of PEx during pregnancy in this study was 32.2%. Age of women (25 to 34 years), antenatal care follow-up (three and more times), hadn’t history of abortion, ever done PEx before becoming pregnant, and good knowledge towards PEx during pregnancy were found positively statistically significant association with practice of PEx during pregnancy. Conclusions: In the current study, nearly one-third of the study participants practiced PEx during current pregnancy. Therefore, antenatal care providers should give advice pregnant women to strengthen antenatal care follow-up and offer health education and counseling regarding PEx during pregnancy during antenatal care follow-up.