| ORIGINAL ARTICLE |
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| Year : 2013 | Volume
: 13
| Issue : 1 | Page : 17-21 |
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Does adequate physical activity among medical health care professionals exist?
Sami A Al Nassar1, Wassem Hajjar1, Ghadeer Al Shaikh2, Arthur Isnani3, Nojud Alhejin1, Amna Baljoun1, Ahlam Almaawi1
1 Department of Surgery, Division of Thoracic Surgery, College of Medicine, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
2 Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, College of Medicine, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
3 Department of Medical Education, College of Medicine, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Correspondence Address:
Sami A Al Nassar
Division of Thoracic Surgery, Department of Surgery (37), College of Medicine, King Saud University, P.O. Box 7805, Riyadh 11427
Saudi Arabia
 Source of Support: None, Conflict of Interest: None  | Check |
DOI: 10.4103/1319-6308.112212
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Rationale: To determine the amount of physical activity (PA) among our staff and if it meets the daily-recommended minimum PA set by the American Heart Association. Materials and Methods: A questionnaire developed by the World Health Organization (WHO) to measure and assess the PA was distributed to hospital staff. The questionnaire has 16 items of three domains (activity at work, travel, and recreation) which were coded to measure the total physical activity (TPA) of each individual per day. Domains were calculated and analyses were done. Results: Of 134 participants, 81 (60.4%) were males and 53 (39.6%) were females. There were 48 (35.8%) students, 44 (32.8%) residents, and 42 (31.3%) consultants. Mean BMI was 26.4 ± 5.9. Males had significantly higher BMI than females and were spending significantly more time for vigorous recreational activities than females. Males were significantly more overweight to obese than females. Residents and consultants were more overweight to obese than medical students. The overweight to obese individuals spend less than 3000 minutes per week on activities. Overall, there were 64 (47.8%) who did not meet the AHA physical activity guidelines and have low TPA. An insignificant majority (n = 70, 52.2%) of our respondents have moderate to high TPA. Conclusion: Almost half of our respondents do not meet the AHA required PA thus there is still a need to encourage and facilitate the increase in PA among our employees in our institution through information campaigns, proper support for physical fitness programs and provision of adequate fitness facilities. |
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