Physical activity was not significantly associated with movement quality after adjustment for sex, BMI, sitting time, and academic major, suggesting that physical activity alone may not independently explain variation in FMS scores in this sample.
Physical activity was not significantly associated with total FMS score in the adjusted linear model.
Physical activity was also not significantly associated with the odds of scoring below 14 on the FMS in the adjusted logistic model.
BMI showed a borderline, non-significant association with having an FMS score below 14.
No individual FMS component remained statistically significant after false discovery rate (FDR) correction in exploratory analyses.
The mean FMS score of the sample was 13.21, and the average physical activity level was 3,249.17 MET-min/week.
Daily step counts from personal devices were collected but treated as exploratory and excluded from primary models due to device heterogeneity.
The sitting time measure used was the IPAQ sitting item, which was noted not to be a validated sedentary-behavior measure.
This research suggests that among health sciences university students in a Middle Eastern setting, doing more physical activity does not necessarily translate into better movement quality. The study measured physical activity using a standard questionnaire (reporting energy expenditure in MET-minutes per week) and movement quality using the Functional Movement Screen (FMS), a set of seven physical tasks scored out of 21. Even after accounting for factors like sex, body mass index, sitting time, and academic major, there was no statistically significant relationship between how active students were and how well they moved. Notably, more than half of students (55.7%) scored below the FMS threshold of 14, which is often considered a marker of increased injury risk. The findings also suggest that BMI may have a modest relationship with movement quality—higher BMI trended toward lower FMS scores—though this association did not reach statistical significance in this small sample. No individual movement task from the FMS showed a significant link to physical activity after correcting for multiple comparisons. The study also noted important methodological limitations, including a small sample size of 70 students, the use of a self-reported physical activity questionnaire (which can be imprecise), and the use of a non-validated sitting time measure. This research suggests that simply being physically active may not be enough to ensure good movement quality in young adults. The type, structure, or quality of physical activity—rather than just the quantity—may matter more for functional movement. This could have implications for how universities design wellness or injury-prevention programs for students, particularly in health sciences fields where physical demands are part of professional training.
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Upload Your LabsAlenezi L, AlMohri F, AlKandari F, Mullayousif S, AlMutairi N, AlKhanfar G, et al.. (2026). Physical activity and movement quality among health sciences students: an exploratory cross-sectional study.. PeerJ. https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.21403