JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

A growing number of individuals spend early adulthood (i.e. 18 – 24 years old) in a university setting, a setting associated with engagement in behaviours that diminish health such as high levels of physical inactivity. Increasing physical activity (PA) is a key element of health promotion strategies in many countries but a better understanding of students’ PA behaviours and how they are influenced by personal, behavioural and environmental factors is needed. A number of studies provide protocols to collect information regarding these factors separately; however, none have developed a validated systematic approach to gather information pertaining to all across a whole country.

Objective:

The purpose of this paper is to present a protocol that allows for the examination of students’ PA and how it is influenced by personal, behavioural and environmental factors.

Methods:

Student Activity and Sport Study Ireland (SASSI) is a university based cross-sectional study that was carried out across the island of Ireland in 2014. A novel and comprehensive online environmental audit tool gathered information pertaining to the environment provided by universities for PA. An online student survey collected information about the PA beliefs, attitudes, motivations and behaviours of students. The audit tool and student survey were developed through rigorous consultation processes involving international experts. An institutional champion volunteered at each university to recruit, administer and ensure the completion of both assessments .

Results:

Data collection was undertaken between May and December 2014. Thirty-three universities (80% response rate) completed the environmental audit tool, while 8,122 students (49.1% male; 23.17 ± 6.75 years) completed the student survey (88.3% response rate). Studies are currently underway using the data collected using this protocol.

Conclusions:

SASSI provides a novel and comprehensive protocol for systematically assessing the PA behaviours of students and the influence of personal, behavioural, and ‘actual’ environmental factors. The strengths of the SASSI study are presented and include high response rates and a unique dataset that can provide information to relevant stakeholders and policymakers, along with aiding the development of university environments and interventions that promote PA involvement. The weaknesses of the protocol are recognised with suggestions given to overcome them in future research. The current protocol is applicable for other countries and has great potential to create harmonisation of data, which would allow for direct comparisons across nations.