Alhajiri Donna, Weinstein Ali A, Kitsantas Panagiota, Oh Kyeung Mi
Fundamentals of Nursing Department, College of Nursing, Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University, Dammam, Saudi Arabia.
Department of Global and Community Health, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA, USA.
J Taibah Univ Med Sci. 2025 Aug 5;20(4):489-506. doi: 10.1016/j.jtumed.2025.07.004. eCollection 2025 Aug.
Saudi women are physically inactive but little is known about their activity during pregnancy and related factors. The Saudi health care transformation strategy aims to improve the well-being of individuals by increasing physical activity levels, including the health of childbearing women. The current study employed a socio-ecological model to identify factors associated with adherence to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists antenatal exercise guidelines among pregnant Saudi women and their correlations at intrapersonal, interpersonal, environmental, organizational, and policy levels.
A cross-sectional, descriptive study was conducted based on 254 participants with normal pregnancy, aged between 18 and 45 years, and with a single, living fetus, by responding to a self-reported questionnaire. A convenience sampling method was employed to recruit participants who attended antenatal care in the eastern province between April and August 2023, with a response rate of 94.4 %.
Adherence to exercise guidelines among Saudi women decreased by 59.8 % during pregnancy compared with pre-pregnancy levels. The most commonly reported barriers were intrapersonal factors, especially tiredness, pregnancy discomforts, and fear of exercise. By contrast, interpersonal factors, particularly social support and health education, were the most widely reported facilitators, as well as organizational and policy factors, particularly access to exercise facilities. Regression analysis suggested that intrapersonal (engagement in exercise pre-pregnancy) and organizational and policy factors (reported lack of pregnancy-specific exercise programs as a barrier to exercise) positively influenced adherence to the guidelines among pregnant Saudi women.
Adherence to exercise guidelines declined significantly during pregnancy. Saudi women reported intrapersonal factors as barriers and interpersonal factors as facilitators.
沙特女性身体活动不足，但对于她们孕期的活动情况及相关因素知之甚少。沙特医疗保健转型战略旨在通过提高身体活动水平来改善个人福祉，包括育龄妇女的健康。本研究采用社会生态模型，以确定沙特孕妇中与遵守美国妇产科医师学会产前运动指南相关的因素，以及在个人、人际、环境、组织和政策层面的相关性。
基于254名正常妊娠、年龄在18至45岁之间、单胎活胎的参与者，通过回答一份自我报告问卷进行了一项横断面描述性研究。采用便利抽样方法招募了2023年4月至8月在东部省份接受产前护理的参与者，回复率为94.4%。
与孕前水平相比，沙特女性孕期遵守运动指南的比例下降了59.8%。最常报告的障碍是个人因素，尤其是疲劳、孕期不适和运动恐惧。相比之下，人际因素，特别是社会支持和健康教育，以及组织和政策因素，特别是运动设施的可及性，是最常被报告的促进因素。回归分析表明，个人因素（孕前参与运动）以及组织和政策因素（报告缺乏针对孕妇的运动项目是运动的障碍）对沙特孕妇遵守指南有积极影响。
孕期遵守运动指南的情况显著下降。沙特女性报告个人因素为障碍，人际因素为促进因素。
