Data Sheet 1_Association between university aerobics course enrollment and changes in health-related physical fitness among college students: a retrospective cohort study.xlsx

Complete-case analyses included 232 students (96.7%).</p>Results<p>The adjusted follow-up composite fitness score was 0.274 points higher in the aerobics group than in the standard PE group (cluster-robust 95% CI [0.225, 0.323]; d = 0.40). Cardiorespiratory endurance showed the largest secondary effect (d = 0.38), whereas standing long jump (d = 0.19), sit-and-reach (d = 0.17), 50-m sprint (d = −0.15), vital capacity (d = 0.10), and BMI (d = −0.08) showed small effects.

Within the aerobics group, greater attendance was associated with greater composite fitness improvement (β = 0.050 points/session, 95% CI [0.028, 0.073]), although residual confounding cannot be excluded. No significant interactions by sex or baseline fitness were identified.</p>Conclusion<p>Enrollment in the studied aerobics sections was associated with greater fitness improvement than enrollment in the available standard PE sections.

Because course enrollment was non-randomized, only eight sections were available, the comparison condition was incompletely characterized, and relevant pre-exposure confounders were unavailable, the findings should be considered hypothesis-generating rather than causal.</p>