EXERCISE PRESCRIPTION: A STRUCTURAL EQUATION ANALYSIS OF THE THEORY OF PLANNED BEHAVIOR AMONG KENYAN HEALTHCARE PROFESSIONALS

Objective: To describe the physical activity prescribing behaviour of Kenyan healthcare professionals and determine if the theory of planned behaviour explains this behavior. Design: The study design was a cross-sectional analytical, that utilized quantitative methods. Setting: The study was conducted in Public health facilities in Kakamega County, located in Western Kenya. These facilities were four (4) Sub-County hospitals, two (2) County hospitals and one (1) County referral hospital. Sample: Stratified random sampling was embraced to divide the population into homogeneous subgroups as per the professional cadres then simple random in proportion to their number in the population was done. Formulae that was used for calculating the sample size was Cochran) with an attrition rate of 10%, since the sample size was less than 10,000 people, the sample size was adjusted with the finite population correction for proportions based on the populations of nurses, doctors and clinical officers (n = 221) Analysis: Data was analyzed through Structural Equation Modelling (SEM). Alpha level for all the computations was considered significant at an α <0.05. Main outcome measures: Self-reported PA prescription behaviour, PA involvement, attitude, subjective norm, perceived behavioural control (PBC) and intention related to PA prescription behaviour were assessed. Results: The estimation of this hypothesized structural model yielded an acceptable fit to the data, χ2 =1634.6, df = 770; χ2/df ratio =2.123(good), CFI = .962; RMSEA = .061, with 90% C.I. = .044 - .073, SRMR = .068. Subjective norms itself was a direct predictor of intention (β = .137, p = .007), attitude was a direct predictor of intention (β = .393, p < .001), perceived control was a direct predictor of intention (β = .207, p = .023) but it was not a significant predictor of exercise prescription (β = .07, p = .318). Intention was a direct predictor of exercise prescription (β = .251, p < .001). Conclusion: The theory of planned behaviour provided useful insight into physician prescription behaviour. A replication study on healthcare professionals with different characteristics should be conducted to increase the understanding of psychosocial predictors of this behaviour