The association of physical activity and leisure-time sedentary behavior with perceived stress among Chinese adults: A cross-sectional study based on the Chinese health and nutrition survey data

Objective: Physical activity (PA) and sedentary behavior (SB) include several domains, whether the association of PA and SB with perceived stress is domain-specific is not clear. This study aims to identify associations of physical activity (exercise and housework) and leisure-time sedentary behavior (LTSB) with perceived stress among Chinese adults. Methods: The data were collected from the 2015 China Health and Nutrition Survey (CHNS). Respondents completed multiple questionnaires developed by the CHNS team, from which we extracted and sorted PA and LTSB data. Perceived stress was measured using the 14-item Perceived Stress Scale. PA was measured using a questionnaire covering 7 types of commonly practiced exercises and 4 types of housework activities among Chinese individuals. Consecutive questions were used to inquire about the time spent on each type of PA. The measurement of LTSB was conducted in the same manner. Data analysis involved Chi-square test and logistic regression. Results: 11,471 adults were included, with an average age of 52.3 years, and 48.3 % were male. 69.9 % (8,019) of respondents reported high perceived stress. Following adjustment for age, gender and other factors, perceived stress was lower for adults reporting medium exercise time (1–2 h) compared with excessively (≥2 h) (OR=1.314 [95 %CI 1.071, 1.612], P