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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Public Health
Sec. Public Health Education and Promotion
Volume 13 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2025.1533284
This article is part of the Research Topic Enhancing Physical Activity in Women Across the Lifespan: Evidence-based Insights into Quantification, Intervention, Outcomes, and Limitations View all 4 articles
Meeting physical activity guidelines and health-related quality of life of single parents in Ghana
Provisionally accepted- 1 Faculty of Social Sciences, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana
- 2 Department of Social Sciences, Offinso College of Education, Offinso, Ashanti Region, Ghana., kumasi, Ghana
- 3 Department of Health Economics and Health Services Research, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg Center for Health Economics, Hamburg, Germany., Hamburg, Germany
- 4 African Population and Health Research Center (APHRC), Nairobi, Kenya
- 5 National Centre for Naturopathic Medicine, Faculty of Health, Southern Cross University, Lismore, NSW, Australia, Lismore, Australia
Purpose: Improving physical activity (PA) and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) is critically important for achieving the health-related sustainable development goal (SDG 3). However, data on the association between PA and HRQoL, particularly among single parents, are limited in lowand middle-income countries (LMICs). We examine the association between PA and HRQoL among single parents in Ghana and explore the modifying roles of sex, age, and spatial differences in this association.Methods: Data on 627 single parents were obtained through a multi-stage stratified sampling technique. PA was assessed using the International Physical Activity Questionnaire-Short Form (IPAQ-SF). The EQ-5D-3L questionnaire was used to measure HRQoL. A hierarchical OLS regression models evaluated the hypothesized associations.Results: PA was significantly associated with poor HRQoL even after accounting for all potential confounders (B = -.298, SE = .132, p < 0.05). The association was further modified by sex (B = -.619, SE = .206, p < 0.01) and age (B = -.062, SE = .008, p < 0.001). Thus, the PA-HRQoL association was more pronounced among older and female single parents.Conclusions: PA was negatively associated with poor HRQoL. Sex and age differences modified the association. Promoting PA may reduce poor HRQoL among single parents.
Keywords: physical activity, Quality of Life, Ghana, Single parents, Sustainable development goals
Received: 23 Nov 2024; Accepted: 03 Mar 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Owusu-Sarpong, Abass, Tutu, Hajek and Gyasi. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Obed Jones Owusu-Sarpong, Faculty of Social Sciences, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana
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