“Women and active life”: An extended TPB-based multimedia software to boost and sustain physical activity and fitness of Iranian women

ABSTRACT

Inactivity is prevalent in women, although regular physical activity (PA) has significant health benefits. Health education interventions based on multimedia software and the extended theory of planned behavior (TPB) with planning may be efficacious in promoting PA. This randomized controlled trial, conducted in 2014, aimed to evaluate theory-based multimedia for increasing and maintaining PA and fitness of 130 military personnel’s wives in Tehran, Iran. We randomly selected respondents by multistage cluster sampling. We designed a “Women and Active Life” self-taught DVD-Rom, based on the extended TPB model with action and coping planning. We analyzed theoretical constructs and health-related physical fitness at baseline and 3 and 6 months post-education. Administering educational software raised average developed TPB constructs, cardiorespiratory endurance, and muscular fitness (strength, endurance, and flexibility) in women in the intervention group, which was sustained at follow-up (p < .001). Also, mean body composition (body fat percentage, waist–hip ratio, and body mass index) was reduced with retained reduction at follow-up (p < .001), although no significant change was found in these variables in the control group (p > .05). Using a new communication technology in TPB-directed multimedia led to improved and maintained PA, aerobic and musculoskeletal fitness, and body composition of women.

KEYWORDS:

• Multimedia
• physical activity
• physical fitness
• planning
• theory of planned behavior

Acknowledgments

The present research was part of a PhD dissertation in Health Education that was supported by the Faculty of Medical Sciences, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran. The authors acknowledged this institution and all people who kindly assisted them in implementing this study.