Poor Health Behaviour in Medical Students at a South African University: A Cross-Sectional Survey Study

Personal health behaviours and lifestyle habits of health professionals influence their counselling practices related to non-communicable diseases (NCDs). There are limited data on the prevalence of unhealthy lifestyle habits among medical students and the impact of acquired health knowledge through...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:International journal of environmental research and public health 2024-06, Vol.21 (7), p.824
Main Authors: Celie, Bert, Laubscher, Ria, Bac, Martin, Schwellnus, Marianne, Nolte, Kim, Wood, Paola, Camacho, Tanya, Basu, Debashis, Borresen, Jill
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Alcohol use
COVID-19
Exercise
Health behavior
Health sciences
Lifestyles
Medical personnel
Medical students
Nutrition research
Personal health
Questionnaires
Risk factors
Sleep
Smoking
Tobacco
Citations: Items that this one cites
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Personal health behaviours and lifestyle habits of health professionals influence their counselling practices related to non-communicable diseases (NCDs). There are limited data on the prevalence of unhealthy lifestyle habits among medical students and the impact of acquired health knowledge throughout the curriculum. The aim of this study was to determine and compare the prevalence of modifiable behavioural NCD risk factors of medical students in different academic years at a South African tertiary institution. A cross-sectional observational study of 532 consenting medical students was conducted. Participants completed five online questionnaires regarding lifestyle behaviours (physical activity, dietary habits, smoking, alcohol consumption and sleep). Lifestyle-related risk factors with the highest prevalence were poor sleep quality (66.0%), low levels of habitual physical activity (55.8%) and low-to-moderate diet quality (54.5%). There were no differences between academic years for all risk factors measured. Over 60% of the cohort had two or more NCD risk factors and this prevalence did not differ across the degree program with the acquisition of more health knowledge. Medical students have a high prevalence of poor sleep quality, low levels of physical activity and low-to-moderate diet quality, which does not appear to change over the course of their academic career. Sleep hygiene, regular physical activity and healthy nutrition should be targeted in intervention programmes and be more prevalent in the medical curriculum.
ISSN:1660-4601
1661-7827
1660-4601
DOI:10.3390/ijerph21070824