The Relationship between Physical Activity and Body Mass Index with Reaction Time in the University Administrative Staff

Background: Today, physical activity as an important topic in physiology has attracted the attention of many researchers. The reaction time (simple, diagnostic and selective) which depends on the time of stimulation of sensory receptors, is an important factor in many movement functions. In this study, the authors attempted to evaluate the relation between physical activity and reaction time in adults.   Methods: This cross-sectional study was carried out on ۸۲ male administrative staff using simple random sampling. The Iranian version of the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ) and a Reaction Timer were used to determine physical activity and reaction time, respectively. Data analysis was carried out by SPSS ۲۰ and Pearson correlation coefficient.   Results: There was a significant relation between reaction times and physical activity with age (p <۰.۰۵), while there was no significant relation between selective reaction time and physical activity with work experience. Also, there was a significant correlation between simple reaction time and physical activity with body mass index (BMI) (p <۰.۰۵), but no significant correlation was found between diagnostic and selective reaction time with BMI. Moreover, a significant relation was found between the types of reaction times and physical activity (p <۰.۰۵).   Conclusion: According to the results, by increased physical activity the reaction time decreases. So, for employees whose jobs require rapid reaction and high precision, increasing physical activity for reducing the reaction time, and ultimately improving the job performance is recommended.