Cohesion of physical activity, health and quality of life of students

Фотографии: 

ˑ: 

Acting rector, Professor, Dr.Hab. A.V. Leifa1
Professor, Dr.Hab. Yu.D. Zheleznyak2
Professor, Dr.Med. Yu.M. Perelman3
1Blagoveshchensk State Pedagogical University
2Moscow State Regional University
3Far East Scientific Centre of Physiology and Pathology of Breathing

 

Keywords: physical education, health, health protection, quality of life, students.

Introduction

The modern Russian society has entered the period of progressive development, where the socio-economic and political reforms are aimed at the assertion of humanistic values ​​and improvement of the quality of people's lives. The problems related to the quality of human life, health, healthy lifestyle, and physical activity formation are essential in this process. Under the new conditions of development the social importance of physical activity in the community is increased, its role in the formation of a healthy lifestyle and the quality of life of Russian people is enhanced. 

The moderate and high-intensity physical activity directly and indirectly contributes to the preservation and promotion of health [1, 2, 3, 4, etc.]. At the same time in Russia only 20-30% of students exercise regularly, while in the economically developed countries the share reaches 40-60% [5]. The decrease of the level of physical activity among pupils and students and at the same time the increase of neuro-emotional stress leads to poor health and, consequently, to the decline in the quality of their lives.  

In the modern scientific literature the term “quality of life” is understood as a system of life values ​​that characterize creative activities, satisfaction of needs and human development (groups of population, society), people's satisfaction with life, social relations and the environment. The presence of the notion “system” in the definition of quality of life indicates that the main method of evaluation and study of the volume components of the quality of life is a system analysis – a set of scientific methods and practices to solve the problem on the basis of a systematic approach and presentation of the object of study as a system.

The change of emphasis in the formation of physical activity to the motor component to the prejudice of the intellectual and socio-psychological components is one of the main reasons that it is not a necessary need of each student. In order to improve the content and organization of the system of physical activity in higher education institutions such forms and methods of training and education, which form an integral attitude of young people to the means of physical culture, are necessary. Therefore, one of the current scientific challenges is searching and substantiating effective ways of formation of the integral attitude towards physical activity among students as an important and necessary condition of health promotion and improvement of their quality of life.

This problem can be settled only in case of finding a complex solution to the tasks of physical, moral and spiritual education of young people, especially students. It should provide a rational combination of new approaches to the pedagogical process on the subject “Physical Education” and new physical activity and health protection technologies.

Thus, the objective of the study was to substantiate the advanced technologies of formation of physical activity and study their impact on the quality of students’ life.

Methods and organization of study

The study was carried out using a set of informative, reliable and complementary research methods: literature review, analysis of the experience of leading experts and documentation; lesson observation; conversation, interview and questionnaires; expert evaluation; testing of physical development, motor fitness, physical working capacity, external respiration data; educational experiment; mathematical methods of statistics. The quality of life we studied using the MOS 36-Item Short Form Health Survey SF-36 (Russian version of J.E. Ware, 1992). The given research methods were implemented during the learning process of students of Moscow State Regional University, Amur State University, Blagoveshchensk State Pedagogical University, a total of 325 students took part in the educational experiment.

The main steps of the study

The study has been conducted in the period of 1996 through 2015. The first period (1996-1997) – search and theoretical – contained the analysis of scientific and methodological literature on the problem; definition of scientific research apparatus; selection of research methods that were verified for reliability and validity. The second period (1998-2006) – test and experimental. It included specifying and generalizing the general hypothesis, theoretical aspects. A model of professional formative and health-promoting system of physical activity of the students in higher education institutions, and the technology of its implementation in universities’ practice were created and tested. The third period (2005-2015) – integrative. It included systematization, generalization and theoretical analysis of the testing and experimental work, drawing conclusions, and elaboration of practical recommendations of the study.

Main results and discussion

Currently, the complex collaboration of physicians, teachers, including those in the field of physical culture greatly contributes to promotion of the quality of human life. It is established that health-related problems cannot be solved just by means of some medications, the role of physical activity in human life is important. A considerable number of works in the field of pedagogics devoted to this subject appeared over the last years. [6, 7, 8, 9].

We consider the quality of life of students of higher education institutions is the subjective evaluation of their own well-being, which is determined by a group of internal and external factors, including health and lifestyle.

On the basis of long-term studies, we have developed and implemented practical recommendations for improvement of the students' quality of life:

1. To raise the significance of physical activity in the professional activity of the future bachelor and specialist it is expedient to strengthen the role of the “Physical Education” discipline; provide an interdisciplinary approach to the design of professional training; provide sport and fitness equipment for higher education institutions; extensively use mass media to form students' demand for physical activity and healthy lifestyle as conditions of improvement of their quality of life.

2. To improve the quality of life of students in higher education institutions it is necessary to integrate into the professional training the system of physical activity and health protection means, which includes the acquisition of knowledge, skills and expertise in physical activity by students, promotion of health, physical fitness and work capacity, formation of the positive motivation for physical activity and healthy lifestyle.

3. The provision of the physical activity system is to be carried out by recruiting student groups (according to academic progress, state of health, sport specialization); stepping up the competency of teachers, trainers, specialists by strengthening interdisciplinary relations of physical culture and professional training; forming appropriate academic and material and technical base; improving management by planning physical activity and an expert system for dynamic monitoring, forecasting and performance evaluation.

4. It is recommended to implement physical activity and health protection means in the following forms: Physical Education classes, extracurricular mass sport and fitness classes, recreational classes at the Student Health Centre, self-training in regular hours. The necessary condition for the implementation of the system is the use of means (physical exercises, hygiene factors, recreational properties of nature) and methods (general pedagogical and special) within the framework of the developed physical activity formation and health protection technology.

5. It is expedient to create in higher education institutions Health Promotion Centres for students, teachers and staff as an effective way of implementation of the system of physical activity and health protection means. The necessary structural elements of Student Health Centre are: diagnostic unit, dispensary observation unit, health and fitness unit, treatment and rehabilitation unit. The main directions of its activities should be: integrated health diagnostics, information and statistical processing of results, result forecasting, development and use of health protection technologies.

6. When implementing the physical activity and health protection system on the basis of Student Health Centre it is recommended to use submaximal aerobic cyclic exercises in a gym using complex training equipment (treadmill, rowing machine, exercise bikes) and elements of strength training, as well as supplement and additional means: corrigent gymnastics, psychological release, hygienic hydrotherapeutic procedure, oxygen cocktail, hygienic massage, sauna.

7. When planning students' physical activity in the training sessions the following requirements should be taken into account:

7.1. Motor activity should improve general endurance by increasing the volume and intensity of exercises. Endurance training sessions should be concentrated at the beginning of the academic year and last 1.5-2 months before the “geographical” winter in the Russian Far East (early November) and held outdoors, that improves the body's resistance to adverse climatic conditions. The achieved level of general endurance should be maintained throughout the year with the help of aerobic cyclic exercises.

7.2. In the second half of each semester one is to focus on speed and strength training. It includes both load exercises, and various jumping exercises (hurdles, multi-jumping, etc.), outdoor games and relay races.

7.3. Agility and flexibility are recommended to be developed according to the specific training material both in a complex and purposefully taking into consideration the peculiarities of future professional activity.

7.4. The structure of the training sessions during the academic year must include three periods. In the first period (September, October) 70% of time is devoted to the development of endurance, 15% – speed, 15% – strength. The uniform method and different variants of variable method are used. In the second period (November, March) – 50% of the time is devoted to the development of endurance, 30% – speed, 20% – strength. Uniform, variable, repeated, interval and competition training methods are applied. In the third period (April, May) 40% are given to the development of speed, 40% – strength, 30% – endurance. Repeated, interval and competition training methods are used.

8. To evaluate the quality of life related with health the following research techniques are used: 1) Karnofsky Performance scale; 2) Campbell index of well-being; 3) the disease impact profile; 4) the Psychological general well-being index. Currently, foreign and Russian experts use the Health Status Survey SF-36 to evaluate the health-related quality of life. This SF-36 survey refers to the non-specific questionnaires for evaluation of the quality of life. 36 items of the survey are grouped into eight scales: physical functioning, role-playing activities, bodily pain, general health, vitality, social functioning, emotional state and mental health. Indicators of each scale vary between 0 and 100, where 100 represent overall health, all scales form two indicators: mental and physical well-being. The scales are grouped into two indicators “physical component of health” and “mental component of health”: 1. The physical component of health. Scale components: physical functioning; role functioning determined by physical state; pain intensity; general state of health. 2. The mental component of health. Scale components: mental health; role functioning determined by emotional state; social functioning; vital activity.

Educational experiment on the implementation of the physical activity and health protection technology is presented in the form of a longitudinal study (Table 1). The findings showed significant changes in all indicators (when р<0,05).

Table 1. Dynamics of changes in students' individual health, points           

 

Indicators

Group

1 year of study

 

2 year of study

 

3 year of study

 

4 year of study

 

5 year of study

 

М±m

М±m

М±m

М±m

М±m

Functional reserves of the body

study group

reference group 

p

2,9±0,44

 

3,0±0,40

>0,05

3,0±0,42

 

3,1±0,44

>0,05

3,7±0,33

 

3,5±0,38

>0,05

4,2±0,37

 

3,4±0,40

<0,05

4,4±0,42

 

3,5±0,38

<0,05

Physical working capacity

study group

reference group 

p

2,4±0,22

 

2,5±0,26

>0,05

3,4±0,34

 

3,3±0,32

>0,05

3,7±0,26

 

3,4±0,30

>0,05

4,4±0,22

 

3,5±0,28

<0,05

4,6±0,38

 

3,4±0,22

<0,05

Physical fitness

study group

reference group 

p

2,7±0,32

 

2,7±0,26

>0,05

3,4±0,35

 

3,3±0,30

>0,05

3,9±0,41

 

3,6±0,36

>0,05

4,8±0,44

 

3,7±0,32

<0,05

4,5±0,42

 

3,6±0,40

<0,05

Lifestyle

study group

reference group 

p

2,7±0,21

 

2,6±0,20

>0,05

3,2±0,21

 

3,1±0,18

>0,05

3,3±0,24

 

3,4±0,22

>0,05

3,5±0,36

 

3,5±0,24

>0,05

4,0±0,38

 

3,6±0,20

<0,05

Body resistance

study group

reference group 

p

2,9±0,24

 

2,9±0,22

>0,05

3,3±0,19

 

3,3±0,20

>0,05

3,7±0,21

 

3,5±0,24

>0,05

4,1±0,22

 

3,6±0,22

<0,05

4,3±0,24

 

3,5±0,23

<0,05

Integral Index

study group

reference group 

p

2,7±0,28

 

2,7±0,26

>0,05

3,3±0,30

 

3,2±0,29

>0,05

3,7±0,29

 

3,5±0,28

>0,05

4,2±0,32

 

3,6±0,26

<0,05

4,3±0,34

 

3,5±0,27

<0,05

Level

study group

reference group 

II (critical)

 

II (critical)

II (critical)

 

II (critical)

III (acceptable)

 

III (acceptable)

III (acceptable)

 

III (acceptable)

IV (adequate)

 

III (acceptable)

During the experiment the integral index changed significantly from 2,7±0,28 points in the first year of study (II level) to 4,3±0,34 in the fifth year of study (IV level). Indicators of functional reserves of the body increased significantly from 2,9±0,44 points in the first year of study to 4,2±0,37 – in the fourth year of study and 4,4±0,42 – in the fifth year of study. Indicators of physical working capacity and physical fitness increased properly from 2,4±0,22 and 2,7±0,32 points in the first year of study (II level) to 4,4±0,22 and 4,6±0,38 points in the fourth year of study (IV level). In the fifth year of study there was a tendency to a slight decrease of the indicators of physical fitness, that may be connected with a slight decrease of physical activity. Indicators of students' lifestyle and body resistance (according to disease incidence per year) during the experiment changed correspondingly from 2,7±0,21 and 2,9±0,24 points in the first year of study (II level) to 4,0±0,38 and 4,3±0,24 in the fifth year of study (III and IV level).  

 The study results of the level of the quality of life of the study group students (Table 2) indicate that in the first and second years of study physical and mental components of the quality of life of students are at low level (47±4,3 points), where (p <0.05).

Table 2. Changes in students' quality of life (study group)

Components

1 year of study

2 year of study

3 year of study

4 year of study

5 year of study

р

х±m

х±m

х±m

х±m

х±m

1. Physical component of health

48±5,3

58±4,7

75±7,2

88±8,6

84±8,1

<0,05

Physical functioning

45±5,1

50±4,1

77±7,2

87±6,2

83±6,0

<0,05

Role functioning

46±4,9

56±6,5

74±6,7

90±8,6

83±6,1

<0,05

Pain intensity

49±3,6

59±4,4

76±6,1

88±8,6

80±8,0

<0,05

General state of health

56±6,5

58±5,9

75±6,1

87±7,1

84±9,5

<0,05

2. Mental component of health

47±4,8

63±5,3

72±7,6

91±9,8

86±9,9

<0,05

Mental health

44±5,6

62±6,1

77±6,4

92±7,0

85±7,0

<0,05

Role functioning determined by emotional state

50±5,4

66±6,6

72±6,3

89±7,7

89±8,5

<0,05

Social functioning

56±4,1

61±5,5

78±8,5

86±7,8

90±8,6

<0,05

Vital activity

44±4,8

59±5,1

79±6,3

88±7,9

81±7,7

<0,05

 

Low indicators of the physical component reflect the degree to which the physical state limits the exercising ability and physical activity of students, which influence health. Low indicators of the mental component reflect depressive, disturbing feelings, mental troubles. In the second year of study the level of the quality of life of students is also low, but close to the average (60 ± 6,3 points), where (p <0.05). The results suggest that the third-year students have an average or above average levels of the quality of life (73 ± 6,4 points), where (p <0.05). The fourth-year students have the highest indicators of the quality of life (89 ± 7,4 points), where (p <0.05). Students of such a group are well adapted to the university conditions; they have high levels of physical and vital activity and low anxiety level. 

The fifth-year students have a kind of decrease of physical and vital activity in comparison with the fourth-year students. But the quality of life also remains at a high level (85 ± 8,2 points, where (p <0.05)).

Conclusion

Thus, the designed system of physical activity, combined with the developed health protection technology on the basis of Health Centre for students made it possible to achieve the high level of the“individual health” component and the quality of life of students.

References

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Corresponding author: Aleifa@mail.ru