Investigation of the Relationships Between Physical Activity and Quality of Life, Health Perception, and Stress Coping Styles in Physiotherapy and Rehabilitation Students

Objectives: To examine the level of physical activity (PA) and to reveal the relationships between PA and quality of life (QoL), health perception, and stress coping styles in physiotherapy and rehabilitation students. Materials and Methods: The study included 134 students in the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd year undergraduate education at Akdeniz University, Faculty of Health Sciences, Department of Physiotherapy and Rehabilitation. The demographic data of the students were recorded on a demographic data form. PA level was evaluated with the International Physical Activity Questionnaire-Short Form, QoL with the Short Form-36, health perception with the Perception of Health Scale, and stress coping styles with the Coping Style Scale. The relationships between PA and QoL, health perception, and stress coping styles were analyzed using Spearman correlation analysis. Results: The mean age of the students was 21.042.72 years. The level of PA was significantly positively correlated with the general health (p=0.008, r=0.230) and role limitations due to emotional problems (p=0.045, r=0.173) scores of QoL, the certainty (p=0.003, r=0.254) and importance of health (p=0.012, r=0.217) scores of health perception, the total score of health perception (p=0.009, r=0.225) and the self-confident approach score of stress coping styles (p=0.022, r=0.198). Conclusion: PA may positively affect QoL, health perception, and stress coping styles in physiotherapy and rehabilitation students. It is thought that developing practices to increase PA awareness in university students will have important health-related effects.