Level of physical activity among urban adults and the socio-demographic correlates: a population-based cross-sectional study using the global physical activity questionnaire

BACKGROUND: Globally, in 2016, 23.3% of adult populations were physically inactive, and it accounts for 9% of the global premature mortality. However, evidence on the level of physical activity was limited in resource-poor settings. This study, therefore, assessed the adult’s level of physical activity and its correlates among the urban population in Dire Dawa, eastern Ethiopia. METHODS: A total of 872 randomly selected adults of age 25–64 years in Dire Dawa city, eastern Ethiopia, are included in this analysis. The Global Physical Activity Questionnaire (GPAQ) is used to measure physical activity. Individuals are considered physically active when they achieved metabolic equivalent tasks (MET) minutes of 600 or more per week, and otherwise inactive. A binary logistic regression is used to identify the correlates of physical activity. RESULTS: 54.9% (95% confidence interval (CI) 51.6 to 58.2) of adults were physically active, with a higher proportion of men being physically active than women, 63.9% (95% CI 58.1 to 69.3) versus 50.6% (95% CI 46.5 to 54.6). Among the adults who reported doing physical activity, the highest domain-specific contribution to the total physical activity was from activities at workplaces, and leisure-time activities contributed the least. The proportion of adults who engaged in a high-level physical activity was 37.0% (95% CI 33.9 to 40.3). Male adults were 1.45 times (aOR (adjusted odds ratio) =1.45; 95% CI 1.05 to 1.99) more likely to achieve the recommended level of physical activity. In contrary, unemployed adults (aOR = 0.51; 95% CI 0.35 to 0.75) were less likely to perform the recommended level of physical activity to accrue health benefits. CONCLUSION: Interventions aimed at promoting physical activity should target unemployed and female adults. We recommend further study to explore the contextual factors that hinder physical activity in the study setting. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (10.1186/s12889-019-7465-y) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.