Perceived exercise barriers and their associations with regular exercise across three age groups of rural women in Taiwan

ABSTRACT

The purposes of the study were to explore the differences in perceived exercise barriers across three age groups of Taiwanese rural women (30–50, 51–70, and >70 years old) and to examine the associations between perceived exercise barriers and regular exercise behavior. A total of 227 women completed the Self-Reported Exercise Behavior and the Perceived Exercise Barrier Scale. Women older than 70 reported higher physical and psychological barriers and lower administrative barriers than did the younger group. Women who did not exercise regularly tended to have a higher perception of exercise barriers.

KEYWORDS:

• Age groups
• exercise barriers
• regular exercise
• rural women

Acknowledgments

We thank Ms. Shu-Chen Huang for data collection, Dr. Chung-Ying Lin for statistical analysis, and Assistive Professor Yueh-Ping Li for critical advice. Special thanks to all the women who kindly agreed to participate in the study.