Levels and Correlates of Domain-specific Physical Activity in University Students: Cross-sectional Findings from Croatia

This cross-sectional study was conducted to determine domain-specific physical activity (PA) levels and their relationship with self-rated health, socio-demographic and lifestyle characteristics among Croatian university students. The data were collected using self-administered questionnaires on a random sample of 1,254 students (62.4% females) living in university residence halls in Zagreb, Croatia. PA levels were assessed by using the long version of the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ), with additional questions asked on gender, age, current year of study, personal monthly budget, community size, smoking status, alcohol intake, body mass index, and self-rated health. The prevalence of insufficient PA was 28.4% (95% CI, 25.1–31.7) and 28.8% (95% CI, 24.6–33.1) among female and male students, respectively. No significant difference was found between genders (p=.867). Male students were significantly more active in the leisure-time domain, while female students reported significantly higher domestic PA (p<.001). A multiple regression analysis showed that leisure-time PA is negatively associated with smoking (partial correlation [rXY∙Z]=-.07; p=.028), and positively associated with male gender (rXY∙Z=.06; p=.040), year of study (rXY∙Z=.09; p=.003), size of community (rXY∙Z=.08; p=.010), and self-rated health (rXY∙Z=.13; p<.001) (multiple R=.23; p<.001). In conclusion, low levels of PA are prevalent among Croatian university students, which indicates a need for PA promotion efforts among this population. Future interventions should especially target females, earlier years of study, students from smaller communities, smokers, and students reporting poorer general health status.