Linear Relationship Between Constructs of Physical Activity and Leisure Motivation Scale and Amount of Physical Activity Among Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus Patients: A Regression Analysis

Motivation towards physical activity (PA) among type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM) patients is one of the most important strategies for managing blood sugar levels. The Physical Activity and Leisure Motivation Scale (PALMS) was developed with eight constructs (competition, appearance, others’ expectations, affiliation, physical condition, psychological condition, mastery, and enjoyment) widely used to determine peoples’ motives for being physically active. The International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ) has been adopted to measure participants’ PA amount. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between the eight motives of PALMS and PA amount among T2DM patients. A combination of cross-sectional study design with self-administered questionnaires has been carried out to recruit the participants from Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia (HUSM). Multiple linear regression analysis has been analysed to obtain the final regression model. A total of 331 participants were recruited with most of them were males:172 (52%) with a mean (SD) age of 62.6 (10.3). From the analysis, five PALMS constructs (competition, appearance, affiliation, psychological condition, and mastery) were found to be significantly associated with PA amount. The coefficient of determination, r2, was 0.271, indicating that 27.1% of the variation in PA amount is explained by competition, appearance, affiliation, psychological condition, and mastery constructs of PALMS. We concluded that a combination of motivations towards PA could affect the amount of PA among T2DM patients. For further intervention study, these five motivations (competition, appearance, affiliation, psychological condition, and mastery) should be emphasised to yield a better impact on the PA amount among T2DM patients.