Evaluation of musculoskeletal fitness and its relationship to quality of life of university academic staff in Nigeria

Abstract

This study was carried out to evaluate the musculoskeletal fitness and its relationship to quality of life of university academic staff in Nigeria. Teaching staff served as the target population. Forty academic staff volunteered and registered for the study in University of Ibadan but the total number of participants that completed the study was thirty six (36). Quasi-experimental research design was used for the study. The data collected were subjected to statistical analysis using descriptive statistics of mean and standard deviation and inferential statistics of pairwise t-test and Pearson Product Moment Correlation to test the hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. The mean score of physical health quality of life of the participants showed that the participants rated themselves as having good quality of life. However, the t-test values show that the participants’ do not possess adequate musculoskeletal fitness required to carry out their activities of daily living (ADLs). The correlational r values of musculoskeletal components are .074, .029, .126 and .059 which are lower than the critical value of .4683. The implication of this is that the assumption made that the participants possess good quality of life is not supported by the results of their musculoskeletal tests. The findings indicated that no significant relationship exist between participants’ musculoskeletal status and their quality of life. Based on the findings, it was concluded that exercise programme should be put forth to enhance musculoskeletal fitness and improve the quality of life of academic staff in the Universities.