Exploring the link between physical activity and quality of life among university students
Abstract
This study aimed to examine the relationship between physical activity (PA) and quality of life (QoL) among university students, considering several factors: gender, specialization, academic level, and place of residence. This was a cross-sectional descriptive quantitative study. The study sample consisted of 302 university students from Dar Al-Uloom University in Saudi Arabia. Of these participants, 170 were males (56.58%) and 132 were females (43.42%). QoL was assessed using the WHOQOL-BREF, and PA levels were measured with the short form of the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ). The study showed that university students were generally physically active throughout the week, and their overall QoL was ranked ‘high’, especially in areas such as life meaning, personal needs, and mood. QoL was higher among females and first-year students (p ≤ 0.05), while no differences were found based on college or residence (p > 0.05). PA was positively associated with QoL, with all correlations being statistically significant (p ≤ 0.05) and ranging from r = 0.549 to r = 0.767, indicating that higher levels of PA are strongly associated with higher perceived QoL. In conclusion, PA is an essential aspect of maintaining good health and well-being, and it is positively associated with QoL.
Downloads
-
Abstract48
-
PDF41
References
Abu Al-Tayeb, M., & Hassan, I. (2019). A comparative study of the quality of life and its relationship to psychological and social adaptation between the elderly and non-practitioners of swimming. Mutah for Research and Studies, Humanities and Social Sciences Series, 34(3), 73-104.
Abu Hammad, N., (2019) Quality of psychological life and its relationship to psychological happiness and self-worth among a sample of Prince Sattam bin Abdulaziz University students. Al-Quds Open University Journal of Educational and Psychological Research and Studies, 10(27), 267-281.
Al-Hazzaa H. M. (2004). The public health burden of physical inactivity in Saudi Arabia. Journal of Family & Community Medicine, 11(2), 45–51.
Hamer, M., & Stamatakis, E. (2014). Prospective study of sedentary behavior, risk of depression, and cognitive impairment. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, 46(4), 718–723. https://doi.org/10.1249/MSS.0000000000000156
Henson, J., Yates, T., Biddle, S. J., Edwardson, C. L., Khunti, K., Wilmot, E. G., ... & Davies, M. J. (2013). Associations of objectively measured sedentary behavior and physical activity with markers of cardiometabolic health. Diabetologia, 56(5), 1012-1020. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00125-013-2845-9
International Physical Activity Questionnaire. (2017). International physical activity questionnaire. https://sites.google.com/site/theipaq/
Kokandi, A. A., Alkhalaf, J. S., & Mohammed Saleh, A. (2019). Quality of life in relation to the level of physical activity among healthy young adults at Saudi Arabia. Biomedical and Pharmacology Journal, 12(1), 281-287.
Lee, I. M., Shiroma, E. J., Lobelo, F., Puska, P., Blair, S. N., Katzmarzyk, P. T., & Lancet Physical Activity Series Working Group (2012). Effect of physical inactivity on major non-communicable diseases worldwide: an analysis of burden of disease and life expectancy. Lancet, 380(9838), 219–229. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(12)61031-9
Lee, P. H., Macfarlane, D. J., Lam, T. H., & Stewart, S. M. (2011). Validity of the International Physical Activity Questionnaire Short Form (IPAQ-SF): a systematic review. The international Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity, 8(1), 1-11. https://doi.org/10.1186/1479-5868-8-115
Maher, C., Ferguson, M., Vandelanotte, C., Plotnikoff, R., De Bourdeaudhuij, I., Thomas, S., Nelson-Field, K., & Olds, T. (2015). A Web-Based, Social Networking Physical Activity Intervention for Insufficiently Active Adults Delivered via Facebook App: Randomized Controlled Trial. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 17(7), 1-14. https://doi.org/10.2196/jmir.4086
Marker, A. M., Steele, R. G., & Noser, A. E. (2018). Physical activity and health-related quality of life in children and adolescents: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Health Psychology, 37(10), 893–903. https://doi.org/10.1037/hea0000653
Puciato, D., Borysiuk, Z., & Rozpara, M. (2017). Quality of life and physical activity in an older working-age population. Clinical Interventions in Aging, 12, 1627–1634. https://doi.org/10.2147/CIA.S144045
Rebar, A. L., Stanton, R., Geard, D., Short, C., Duncan, M. J., & Vandelanotte, C. (2015). A meta-meta-analysis of the effect of physical activity on depression and anxiety in non-clinical adult populations. Health Psychology Review, 9(3), 366-378. https://doi.org/10.1080/17437199.2015.1022901
Schnohr, P., Kristensen, T. S., Prescott, E., & Scharling, H. (2005). Stress and life dissatisfaction are inversely associated with jogging and other types of physical activity in leisure time—The Copenhagen City Heart Study. Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports, 15(2), 107-112. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1600-0838.2004.00394.x
Schuch, F. B., Vancampfort, D., Rosenbaum, S., Richards, J., Ward, P. B., & Stubbs, B. (2016). Exercise improves physical and psychological quality of life in people with depression: A meta-analysis including the evaluation of control group response. Psychiatry Research, 241, 47–54. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychres.2016.04.054
Shin, W. K., Song, S., Jung, S. Y., Lee, E., Kim, Z., Moon, H. G., Noh, D. Y., & Lee, J. E. (2017). The association between physical activity and health-related quality of life among breast cancer survivors. Health and Quality of Life Outcomes, 15(1), 1-9. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12955-017-0706-9
Sun, W., Aodeng, S., Tanimoto, Y., Watanabe, M., Han, J., Wang, B., Yu, L., & Kono, K. (2015). Quality of life (QOL) of the community-dwelling elderly and associated factors: a population-based study in urban areas of China. Archives of Gerontology and Geriatrics, 60(2), 311–316. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.archger.2014.12.002
WHOQOL Group. (1994). The development of World Health Organization quality of life assessment instrument (the WHOQOL). In J. Orley & W. Kuyken (Eds.), Quality of life assessment: International perspectives (pp. 41–57). Berlin: Springer Verlag. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-79123-9_4
World Health Organization. (1998). Development of the World Health Organization WHOQOL-BREF quality of life assessment. Psychological Medicine, 28(3), 551–558. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0033291798006667
World Health Organization. (2008). WHOQOL-BREF: World Health Organization quality of life (Translation by B. Ahmed). Cairo: Anglo Egyptian Library.
World Health Organization. (n.d.). WHOQOL-BREF. Retrieved October 24, 2025, from https://www.who.int/tools/whoqol
The works and papers that are published in this Journal are subject to the following terms:
1. The Publication Service of the University of Murcia (the publisher) has the Publication Rights (Copyright) to the published papers and works, and favors and permits the reusing of the same under the license indicated in point 2.
© Servicio de Publicaciones, Universidad de Murcia, 2013
2. The papers and works are to be published in the digital edition of the Journal under the license Creative Commons Reconocimiento-No Comercial-Sin Obra Derivada 3.0 España (legal text). The copying, using, spreading, transmitting and publicly displaying of the papers, works or publication are permitted as long as: i) the authors and original sources (Journal, publisher and URL of the publication) are quoted; ii) it is not used for commercial benefit; iii) the existence and specifications of this users license are mentioned.
3. Conditions of Self-Archiving. It is permitted and encouraged that the authors spread electronically the pre-print (before printing) and/or post-print (the revised, evaluated and accepted) versions of their papers or works before their publication since this favors their circulation and early diffusion and therefore can help increase their citation and quotation, and also there reach through the academic community.
The works and papers that are published in this Journal are subject to the following terms:
1. The Publication Service of the University of Murcia (the publisher) has the Publication Rights (Copyright) to the published papers and works, and favors and permits the reusing of the same under the license indicated in point 2.
© Servicio de Publicaciones, Universidad de Murcia, 2013
2. The papers and works are to be published in the digital edition of the Journal under the license Creative Commons Reconocimiento-No Comercial-Sin Obra Derivada 3.0 España (legal text). The copying, using, spreading, transmitting and publicly displaying of the papers, works or publication are permitted as long as: i) the authors and original sources (Journal, publisher and URL of the publication) are quoted; ii) it is not used for commercial benefit; iii) the existence and specifications of this users license are mentioned.
3. Conditions of Self-Archiving. It is permitted and encouraged that the authors spread electronically the pre-print (before printing) and/or post-print (the revised, evaluated and accepted) versions of their papers or works before their publication since this favors their circulation and early diffusion and therefore can help increase their citation and quotation, and also there reach through the academic community.















