Prevalence, patterns, and determinants of physical activity and sedentary behavior in women: A cross-sectional study from Kurdistan Region of Iraq

Abstract This cross-sectional study aimed to determine the prevalence, patterns, and determinants of physical activity, leisure-time exercise, and sedentary behavior among as sample of 540 women in Erbil, Kurdistan Region of Iraq using the Global Physical Activity Questionnaire. The prevalence of sufficient work- and transportation-related physical activity was 31.5%, which was significantly higher among non-manual and manual employees (40.7%, P = 0.006), outside the city center (52.1%, P = 0.001), and chronic diseases (38.4%, P = 0.042). Approximately 33% of the participants had a high level of sedentary behavior, which was significantly higher among the youngest participants (41.2%, P < 0.001), single participants (47.3%, P < 0.001), participants with high school education and below (45.2%, P < 0.001), students (52.8%, P < 0.001), and participants with an average or below-average economic status (35.8%, P = 0.048). On multivariate analysis, the area of residence and chronic diseases were significantly associated with physical activity and marital and employment status were significantly associated with high levels of sedentary behavior. The low level of sufficient physical activity and very high sedentary behavior level are alarming. There is a clear need to adopt proper strategies to promote physical activity, especially regular leisure-time physical exercise, and to reduce sedentary behavior.