'The Actual and Perceived Levels of Physical Fitness and Lifestyle Habits in University of Malta Students'

The ultimate goal for every health-care system is to have a healthy population by maintaining good physical fitness levels and lifestyle habits, including regular physical activity, good sleep quality, smoking and alcohol abstinence. The main components of physical fitness include body composition, muscular strength and endurance, flexibility and cardiovascular endurance. National research based on actual and perceived physical fitness levels in University of Malta (UM) students where both physical and non-physical testing are included, is lacking.

Also, to the knowledge of the researcher, no such research investigated the relationship between the actual and perceived levels of physical fitness with lifestyle habits (smoking, alcohol consumption and sleep).

This study aims to investigate the correlation between the actual and perceived levels of physical fitness (body composition, cardiovascular endurance, muscular strength and endurance and flexibility) by physical and non-physical testing, the correlation between lifestyle patterns (smoking, alcohol consumption and sleep.

Study Overview

• Status: Recruiting
• Conditions: Lifestyle, Healthy; Physical Fitness

Detailed Description

The ultimate goal for every health-care system is to have a healthy population by maintaining good physical fitness levels and lifestyle habits, including regular physical activity, good sleep quality, smoking and alcohol abstinence. The main components of physical fitness include body composition, muscular strength and endurance, flexibility and cardiovascular endurance. A national research based on actual and perceived physical fitness levels in University of Malta (UM) students where both physical and non-physical testing are included, is lacking.

Also, to the knowledge of the researcher, no such research investigated the relationship between the actual and perceived levels of physical fitness with lifestyle habits (smoking, alcohol consumption and sleep).

This study aims to investigate the correlation between the actual and perceived levels of physical fitness (body composition, cardiovascular endurance, muscular strength and endurance and flexibility) by physical and non-physical testing, the correlation between lifestyle patterns (smoking, alcohol consumption and sleep.

This proposed research shall adopt a quantitative-based, correlational type of study design. Registrar and student organisations shall act as intermediary entities and send an information letter via electronic mail to all students aged between 18-30 years. All participants who respond to the call, on attendance to a pre-set date for a face-to-face information session by the researcher, will be asked to sign an informed consent form. Each participant will come for data collection only once at the Department of Physiotherapy laboratories, Faculty of Health Sciences, at the University of Malta and shall take around 20 minutes.

Every query will be answered, a detailed explanation and demonstration of each test will be given to each participant, and qualified physiotherapists will perform the testing.

In this proposed study, the aim of The Fagerstrom Test for Nicotine Dependence (FTND), Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) and Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) is to quantitatively study various lifestyle habits in UM students including smoking, alcohol consumption and sleep quality respectively. The Self-Perceived Fitness questionnaire (SPF) shall be used to measure self-perceived physical fitness in University of Malta students. The Fagerstrom Test for Nicotine Dependence is open-access, and can be used for free for research purposes. On the other hand, permissions to use the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test, Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index and Self-Perceived Fitness questionnaire were given by their respective authors.

Body composition shall be measured by Body Mass Index and Waist Circumference, lower and upper limb flexibility shall be measured by Modified Sit and Reach Test and Back Scratch Test respectively. In addition, cardiovascular endurance shall be measured by Resting Heart Rate, Blood Pressure and 3 Min Step Test, while Squats and Push-ups until fatigue shall be used to measure lower and upper limb muscular strength and endurance. All data will then be analysed using statistical methods.

• Study Type: Observational
• Enrollment (Anticipated): 384

Contacts and Locations

• Study Contact: Name: MaryGrace Grima, B.Sc (Hons); Phone Number: 0035679095149; Email: mary.g.grima.14@um.edu.mt
• Study Contact Backup: Name: Tonio Agius, PhD; Phone Number: 0035623401821; Email: tonio.p.agius@um.edu.mt

Study Locations

• Malta
  • Imsida, Malta
    • Recruiting
    • Exercise Lab, Physiotherapy Department, Faculty of Health Sciences, Mater Dei Hospital
    • Contact: Anthea Zammit; Phone Number: 23401207; Email: anthea.zammit@um.edu.mt

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 years to 30 years (Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: N/A
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

• Sampling Method: Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

All university of Malta students, both males and females, and aged between 18-30 years, shall be invited to participate.

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• all students aged between 18-30 years, and enrolled within the University of Malta in 2021-2022

Exclusion Criteria:

• Participants who underwent any orthopaedic surgery/trauma in the previous two years or who suffer from hereditary diseases that may lead to movement restrictions, compromised muscular strength, endurance or flexibility, since any of these may limit generalisability of results.
• Participants who are taking medications that cause tachycardia, suffer from resting angina, uncontrolled respiratory conditions, diabetes and high blood pressure.

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Alcohol Consumption	Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT)	through study completion, an average of 1 year.
Tobacco Smoking	Fagerstrom Test for Nicotine Dependence	through study completion, an average of 1 year.
Sleeping Pattern and Quality	Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index	through study completion, an average of 1 year.
Perceived Physical Fitness	Self-perceived fitness Questionnaire	through study completion, an average of 1 year.
Physical Fitness- Body Composition	Waist Circumference	through study completion, an average of 1 year.
Physical Fitness- Body Composition	Body Mass Index	through study completion, an average of 1 year.
Physical Fitness- Flexibility	Modified Sit and Reach Test	through study completion, an average of 1 year.
Physical Fitness- Flexibility	Back Scratch Test	through study completion, an average of 1 year.
Physical Fitness- Muscular strength and endurance	Squats until fatigue	through study completion, an average of 1 year.
Physical Fitness- Muscular strength and endurance	Push-Ups until fatigue	through study completion, an average of 1 year.
Physical Fitness- Cardiovascular Endurance	Resting Heart Rate (RHR)	through study completion, an average of 1 year.
Physical Fitness- Cardiovascular Endurance	Blood Pressure (BP)	through study completion, an average of 1 year.
Physical Fitness- Cardiovascular Endurance	3 Minute Step Test	through study completion, an average of 1 year.

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: University of Malta

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): March 15, 2021
• Primary Completion (Anticipated): September 30, 2022
• Study Completion (Anticipated): May 30, 2023

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: February 8, 2021
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: February 26, 2021
• First Posted (Actual): March 1, 2021

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): May 5, 2021
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: April 29, 2021
• Last Verified: April 1, 2021

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: sleep; alcohol consumption; physical fitness; tobacco smoking; lifestyle habits; perceived,
• Other Study ID Numbers: UniMalta

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: NO

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No