Association Between Marital Satisfaction and Physical Activity Among Married Saudi Adults Aged 25-59 Years Attending Primary Health Care Centers in Taif, Saudi Arabia: A Cross-Sectional Study.

backgroundMarital satisfaction is a key indicator of psychological well-being and family stability. Emerging evidence suggests that lifestyle behaviors, particularly physical activity, may be related to relationship quality, but data from Middle Eastern populations remain limited. This study examined the association between marital satisfaction and physical activity among married Saudi adults aged 25-59 years attending primary health care centers in Taif.

methodsA cross-sectional study was conducted among 494 married Saudi adults aged 25-59 years who had been married for at least two years and were attending primary health care centers in Taif, Saudi Arabia. Participants were selected using a multistage stratified random sampling technique. Marital satisfaction was measured with the Relationship Assessment Scale (RAS) and physical activity with the International Physical Activity Questionnaire-Short Form (IPAQ-SF). Associations were examined using the Pearson chi-square test or the Fisher-Freeman-Halton exact test (for tables with sparse cells), with the bias-corrected Cramér's V as an effect size, and using binary logistic regression (penalized for sparse data) to estimate crude and adjusted odds ratios (OR and aOR) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for high marital satisfaction.

resultsHigh marital satisfaction was reported by 363 (73.5%) participants, and 367 (74.3%) were in the low overall IPAQ-SF physical activity category. Marital satisfaction was significantly associated with vigorous activity (χ² = 53.41, p < 0.001, V = 0.22), moderate activity (χ² = 21.73, p = 0.002, V = 0.13), walking (χ² = 30.71, p < 0.001, V = 0.16), and the overall IPAQ-SF category (χ² = 21.43, p < 0.001, V = 0.13); all effect sizes were small. In adjusted analyses, a higher overall IPAQ-SF category was associated with lower odds of high marital satisfaction (aOR per category 0.66, 95% CI 0.44-1.00, p = 0.048), and more frequent vigorous activity was inversely associated with high marital satisfaction (aOR per level 0.44, 95% CI 0.24-0.79, p = 0.006). Moderate activity (aOR 1.12, 95% CI 0.77-1.62) and walking (aOR 1.24, 95% CI 0.87-1.76) were not independently associated with marital satisfaction. Results were unchanged after excluding two participants reporting more than one wife.

conclusionsIn this cross-sectional sample, more frequent vigorous activity and membership in the very small high overall IPAQ-SF activity category were inversely associated with high marital satisfaction, whereas moderate activity and walking showed no independent association; all associations were modest. Because of the cross-sectional design, the temporal direction cannot be determined, and the findings represent associations rather than causal effects.