Physical activity and its associations with quality of life of female victims of domestic violence living in shelters

Abstract

Considering the impact of continued violence on general health, we aimed to assess the physical activity (PA) and quality of life of female victims of domestic violence (DV) living in shelters. Also, we aimed to search for associations between PA, quality of life and violence length among our sample. Methods: Seventeen female victims participated in this study (mean age=43.9 ± 13.1 years). Participants were asked to use an accelerometer for seven days to assess PA and filled out the WHOQoL-Bref and the EuroQol – 5D to assess quality of life, as well as a brief survey assessing violence information. Results: Fourteen (82%) participants met the accelerometer criteria (≥ 5 days per week). Six participants (42.9%) reached the recommendations of at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity PA per week (M=172.5±136.3). Also, participants had, on average, 8.9 (±1.5) hours/day of sedentary behavior. Moderate-to-vigorous PA (MVPA) per week was positively correlated with the environment domain of WHOQoL (Spearman rho (SR)=.555, p=.040). Also, EuroQol scale was negatively correlated with total duration of violence (SR=-.603, p=.013), but positively correlated with total sedentary hours/day (SR=.639, p=.014). The length of time since violence ended correlated positively with the number of steps (SR=.803, p<.01). Conclusions: Participants had low levels of PA. Physical activity, perceived quality of life and length of time with and without violence, were correlated among female victims of DV. Movement-based interventions should be promoted in victims’ shelters as it could positively impact their physical activity behavior, quality of life and recovery process.