Exercise self-efficacy and perceived barriers of postmenopausal women living in North Queensland

The postmenopausal period is associated with an increase in weight and the incidence of cardiovascular disease. However, regular exercise is seen as cardioprotective in\ud postmenopausal women. Despite this evidence, many Australian postmenopausal women do not engage in regular exercise. Exercise self-efficacy is an important predictor\ud of exercise behaviour and can influence exercise adoption when faced with potential barriers. Indeed, various barriers specific to postmenopausal women living in a\ud tropical environment may prohibit the initiation of a regular exercise regime. Determination of exercise self-efficacy levels and the most significant barriers to exercise are therefore necessary for the success of intervention programs for this population. Postmenpausal women (N =101) 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=53) or non-exercisers (n=48) based on whether they had performed a minimum of 150 minutes of accumulated moderate intensity exercise in the past 7 days. Exercise\ud self-efficacy was determined via questionnaire. Results indicated that exercisers had a higher level of exercise self efficacy and feel significantly more confident to exercise when faced with barriers compared to non-exercisers (p < 0.00). Discriminant function analysis found the barriers of conflicting schedules, difficulty getting to the exercise location and the weather as the main contributors to discrimination between exercisers and non-exercisers. Findings suggest that future intervention programs should aim to increase exercise self-efficacy levels so that more postmenopausal women resident in North Queensland can obtain the health benefits of exercise