Barrier-specific exercise self-efficacy in postmenopausal women resident in the tropics

Weight gain and the associated increased risk of coronary artery disease are associated with the postmenopausal\ud period. However, moderate intensity physical activity may be cardioprotective in this period. Australian women remain predominately sedentary however, despite the health benefits of regular exercise. Self-efficacy is an important predictor of exercise behaviour influencing exercise adoption when faced with potential barriers including age, health status, socio-economic status, geographical considerations and social and physical environments. Determination of the most significant barriers to exercise is necessary for successful intervention programs for the postmenopausal population. Postmenopausal women (N=87) resident in tropical north Queensland were recruited via announcements in local media, service club newsletters and electronic bulletin boards. Following data collection, participants were categorised as exercisers (n=55) or non-exercisers (n=32) based on whether they had performed a minimum of 150 minutes of accumulated moderate intensity exercise in the past 7 days. Exercise self-efficacy was determined via questionnaire. Discriminant function analysis\ud indicated that exercisers had a higher level of exercise self-efficacy (p < .00 I) and feel significantly more\ud confident to exercise when faced with barriers compared to non-exercisers. Of these barriers, conflicting schedules and feeling self-conscious were the main contributors to discrimination between exercisers and nonexercisers.\ud Seventy four percent of the total sample and 73% and 78% of the exercisers and non-exercisers were correctly classified respectively. Findings suggest that future intervention programs should aim to reduce these barriers so that more postmenopausal women resident in North Queensland can obtain the health benefits of exercise