INVESTIGATION OF EXERCISE DEPENDENCY ATTITUDE IN CYCLISTS

Abstract

Aims:The aim of this study is to determine the relation between exercise dependency, exercise dependency frequency and sportive habits correspondent to cycling.Methods: There were 165 voluntary participants between the ages of 18 and 62. They have filled out Exercise Dependency Scale-21 and by dint of the scale they have been categorized into 3 following groups: “Dependent”, “Non Dependent Symptomatic” and “Non Dependent Asymptomatic”. The participants’ medical conditions and traits of cycling were determined by an evaluation form and compared in between the groups. For the data acquired, Kruskal Wallis test was used for the comparison in between the groups; Mann-Whitney-U test was used to compare the data of two groups. This study was approved by the local ethics board. Results: When the data analyzed with Exercise Dependency Scale-21, it was determined that there were 9 (5.5%) people who were “dependent”, 107 (67.8%) people who were “non dependent symptomatic” and 49 (29.7%) people who were “non dependent asymptomatic”. The weekly cycling time in the last year was found more in the dependent (19.6±15.5) group and the symptomatic (11.6±11.1) group than the asymptomatic (7.8±7.4) group (respectively p=0.017 and p=0.015). Weekly cycling frequency was found more both in the dependent (6.8±3.6) group and the symptomatic (5.9±12.5) group than the asymptomatic (3.5±3.3) group (respectively p=0.005 ve p=0.044). Furthermore the last year’s weekly cycling frequency of dependent group was higher than the symptomatic group (p=0.0016). In this study, there is no significant difference depending on the consumption of alcohol and cigarettes.Conclusion:In this study, exercise dependency of the cyclists is determined to be 5.5%. According to the Exercise Dependency Scale-21, the weekly exercise duration and frequency of the dependent group were higher than the symptomatic and the asymptomatic groups. Therefore, consumption of alcohol and cigarettes by the groups were similar, thus exercise dependency is not coherent with the consumption of alcohol and cigarettes

Keywords

• Sports, exercise, dependency