Age-Specific Reasons for Dropping out of the Fitness-Sport

IntroductionIn the evaluations and statistical analyses presented here, it is examined to what extent the various reasons for quitting activity in a gym are age-dependent. In other words, are the motives for quitting this activity different in older people than in younger people? According to the life stages, do other aspects, e.g. priorities in life, health problems or other family and professional requirements, affect the decision and, if so, how strong is their effect?High drop-out rates in sports programs are no exception. The long-term commitment of sport active people poses a problem. This also applies to fitness training in studios, as about half of the members end their training prematurely (Rampf, 1999). The question concerning the reasons for dropping out hasn't, so far, been studied in Germany, so the knowledge about it is only incomplete. Problematic therefore is also the indication of average drop-out rates in German fitness studios because they are not recorded or published.Oldrige (1982) analyzed ten sports programs in the context of preventive measures, setting cancellation rates from 13% to 75%. Analysis of another 18 prevention programs showed drop-out rates from 3% to 87%.In the Franklin study (1988), a quitting rate of 46% was found. The study concluded that dropouts are the rule rather than the exception, and that the first half year and the end of the program are critical for quitting. Furthermore, according to the results of the study, dropouts are more affected healthwise than the ones remaining. In addition to the medical and psychological reasons for quitting, the factors "lifestyle and individual living conditions" are mentioned.In the studies by Gettmann et al. (1983) and Song et al. (1983) similar factors were identified for quitting a program. In the first place almost always appears the factor "lack of time". Furthermore, the dropouts from a company sports program mentioned the factors "illness in the family, lack of interest in the sports program and inconvenience during the journey to the training" (time consuming, expensive, etc.). In the study by Oldrige (1979) 42% of the dropouts from a rehabilitation program for patients with coronary diseases mentioned "psychosocial reasons" (e.g. lack of interest, problems in the family). 25% of the dropouts mentioned "unavoidable reasons" (e.g. occupational conflicts, change of employment, change of residence), 22% gave medical reasons and 11% other reasons for quitting.Brehm and Eberhardt (1995) questioned fitness studio members about their reasons for quitting training because they had not renewed their membership when their contract ended. The "lack of fun in the sporting activities" was mentioned as a priority factor for quitting the activity. In addition, "motivation problems" (e.g., laziness), "lack of time" (often due to heavy workload) and "financial reasons" (too expensive membership fees) were mentioned as reasons for quitting. In an open question the members were asked for a specific reason for quitting. On this occasion criticism about the "studio atmosphere" (too impersonal) was mentioned, as well as "lack of social support" (e.g. no contact with other members, partner has quit the training, etc.) and "high membership costs" (also for additional services like childcare).Pahmeier (1997) also investigated which factors influence the decision to quit a sports program and found that among 65 respondents each gave an average of 3.6 reasons. The main problems that affected the quitting decision in this case were time management and factors of living and working conditions.These studies show that quitting a sports program always depends on several factors. The features of quitting a sports activity may be personal and situational characteristics (Rampf, 1999).It is often possible to identify reasons which ultimately lead to dropping out, but the participation behaviour is influenced by a complex factor structure. …