The relationship between physical activity level and fatigue in vocational college students

Objectives: The specific objectives of this study were: 1) to estimate the prevalence rate of fatigue and physical activity level and 2) to examine the relationship between these two variables among vocational college students. Design: This cross-sectional research was done with a 1/2 sampling method of 186 students at a vocational college. As a data-collecting device, the Physical Activity Assessment Questionnaire (PAAQ), the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ) and Fatigue Severity Scale (FSS) were used. An additional questionnaire was administered to obtain demographic data. Results: The prevalence rate of fatigue was 55.9%. The average weekly energy consumption of the students calculated in terms of IPAQ total was 1223.52±1194.80MET-min/week; in terms of the PAAQ total, it was 10401.35±9925.2kcal/week. The average weekly energy consumption of the students calculated in terms of the IPAQ total was 1016.13±1222.89MET-min/week for the fatigue group; and in terms of the PAAQ total, it was 9042.74±4954.55kcal/week. When the whole group was catagorised according to their IPAQ total score, 55.9% (104) of them were determined to be inactive, 34.9% (65) were minimally active and 9.1% (17) were active. When the whole group were categorised according to their PAAQ total score, 91.8% (171) were sedentary, 2.4% (2) were active and 4.8% (4) were very active. Except for the PAAQ stair and PAAQ school variables, from the perspective of other variables of physical activity measurement, a statistical difference between the fatigued and non-fatigued groups was seen (p<0.05). There was a negative correlation between physical activity and fatigue (p< 0.05). Conclusions: Vocational college students demonstrated a high prevalence rate of fatigue and their level of physical activity was clearly low. The results of this study indicated that physical activity significantly correlated with the prevalence of fatigue. In order to maintain and improve the health of college students, training, support and opportunity to increase their level of physical activity should be provided.