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Table 1 Cross-sectional associations between participant characteristics and physical activity awareness, by objectively measured activity (N = 365)

From: Overestimation of physical activity level is associated with lower BMI: a cross-sectional analysis

 

ACTIVE (N = 134)

INACTIVE (N = 231)

Participant characteristics

Realistic active (RA)

Under-estimator (UE)

P-value

Realistic inactive

(RI)

Over-estimator (OE)

P-value

N (%)

52 (14.3)

82 (22.5)

-

125 (34.3)

106 (29.0)

-

SOCIODEMOGRAPHIC

      

Gender (% male)a

42.3

48.8

0.464

28.8

38.7

0.113

Age in years (mean, SD)b

40.1 (5.5)

38.9 (6.0)

0.258

40.7 (6.1)

42.0 (5.9)

0.114

Age finished full time education (mean, SD)b

17.7 (2.6)

18.1 (3.3)

0.479

18.5 (3.7)

17.1 (2.5)

0.002

Percent unemployed (%) b

2.0

2.5

0.833

2.4

3.8

0.553

Partner's leisure activity over last year a

  

0.231

  

0.012

   Some (%)

50

38.6

 

34.7

53.6

 

   Not much (%)

50

61.4

 

65.3

46.4

 

BIOLOGICAL

      

Body fat% (mean, SD)b

28.6 (7.7)

32.3 (8.1)

0.013

33.4 (7.7)

29.1 (7.5)

< 0.001

Body Mass Index in kg/m2 (mean, SD)b

26.3 (4.5)

29.0 (4.9)

0.002

28.9 (5.5)

26.3 (4.4)

< 0.001

DayPAR (mean, SD) b

2.4 (0.7)

2.3 (0.6)

0.200

1.6 (0.4)

1.6 (0.4)

0.494

Predicted VO2max in L/min (mean, SD)b

3.4 (1.0)

3.4 (1.0)

0.693

3.1 (0.9)

3.0 (0.9)

0.873

BEHAVIOURAL

      

Smoking (% smokers) a

30.8%

29.3%

0.853

9.6%

17.9%

0.068

Total units of alcohol/week (mean, SD)b

8.4 (9.3)

8.8 (9.6)

0.781

6.0 (6.6)

6.3 (8.6)

0.702

Average percentage of time (per day) spent above 1.75 × resting HR (mean, SD)b

14.5 (10.7)

12.4 (9.0)

0.229

1.1 (1.2)

1.4 (1.2)

0.097

PSYCHOLOGICAL

      

Affective attitude (mean, SD)c

4.0 (0.5)

3.9 (0.7)

0.284

3.9 (0.6)

3.8 (0.6)

0.543

Perceived behavioural control (mean, SD)c

3.8 (0.5)

4.0 (0.6)

0.203

3.9 (0.6)

3.7 (0.6)

0.159

Instrumental attitude (mean, SD)c

4.5 (0.5)

4.6 (0.5)

0.008

4.3 (0.4)

4.4 (0.5)

0.047

Subjective norm (mean, SD)c

3.7 (0.6)

4.1 (0.6)

< 0.001

3.7 (0.6)

3.8 (0.5)

< 0.001

Intention (mean, SD)c

3.8 (0.5)

3.9 (0.7)

0.296

3.7 (0.6)

3.6 (0.6)

0.067

SF-36 General health perception (mean, SD)c

73.9 (14.5)

64.6 (19.0)

0.005

67.2 (18.7)

74.2 (16.3)

0.004

  1. Values are means and standard deviations (SD) for continuous variables and percentages within awareness groups for categorical variables. SD: standard deviation; BMI: Body Mass Index; V02 max: Maximal oxygen uptake; DayPAR: Daytime physical activity ratio; HR: Heart-rate.
  2. All statistically significant differences between groups are reported
  3. a: tested using Chi-square
  4. b: tested using logistic regression