The Effect of Transtheroretical Model of Behavior Change on Physical Activity of Markazi Health Center Staff

Employees are among the least active groups in society. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of comprehensive interventions to provide appropriate conditions in the workplace in order to increase physical activity or exercise by using the transtheoretical model of change (TTM).

The present study was a workplace-based semi-experimental intervention conducted in 2013 with the participation of 90 employees of the Vice-Chancellor of Health in Markazi Province, Iran. In group discussion sessions with employees, the factors affecting sedentary lifestyle and strategies to increase it were extracted. After prioritization, the interventions to change the staff's physical activity were performed within eight weeks. Before and after the interventions, the number of steps taken with the help of a pedometer and the rate of behavior change was measured by a questionnaire of structures of the trans-theoretical model. Finally, the collected data was analyzed by SPSS software version 20 and with the help of paired t-test, chi-square, and analysis of variance.

The mean (SD) age of participants was 47.4 (12.9)years. The average number of steps before the intervention was 6964, which increased to 9369 after the intervention (P<0.001). Before the intervention, 12.5% of participants had at least 10,000 steps per day, which reached 39.9% after the intervention (P<0.001). Before the intervention, only 20.5% of participants had regular physical activity during the action and maintenance phase, which increased to 51.3% after the intervention (P<0.001).

The results of this study showed that workplace adaptation interventions, in order to change the physical activity of the staff, by TTM changed model and pedometer, have been effective in increasing their physical activity.