EN
Evaluation of healthy lifestyle behaviors and related factors in medical students
Abstract
Objective: A healthy lifestyle can be defined as the adoption and implementation of behaviors that will reduce the risk of a serious illness or premature death, as well as protect and improve health levels. The aim of this study was to determine healthy lifestyle behaviors of students in a medical faculty and to investigate the relationships between healthy lifestyle behaviors and various factors.
Method: This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted at Bursa Uludağ University Faculty of Medicine between October 2019 and March 2020. A total of 357 students attending the first and sixth grade of medical faculty were included in the study. The data were collected by a questionnaire included questions about the sociodemographic characteristics of the participants and Healthy Lifestyle Behaviors Scale II (HLBS-II).
Results: Of the respondents, 54.3% (n=194) were women and 52.7% (n=188) were sixth-year graduates. Most of them were living apart from family (in a private house or dormitory) (n=258, 72.3%) and stated their health status as very good/good (n=286, 80.1%). Students, who were living with their families (p=0.039), who had very good/good level of health status perception (p<0.001), whose fathers’ educational level was high school or above (p=0.004), who were non-smokers (p=0.003), and who were not drinking alcohol (p=0.001) had significantly higher HLBS-II total scores. Furthermore, HLBS-II total score (p=0.003), physical activity (p<0.001), spiritual growth (p<0.001), and interpersonal relationships (p=0.039) subscale scores of first-year students were significantly higher than sixth-year students.
Conclusions: It was observed that the healthy lifestyle behaviors of medical students did not develop in a positive way despite the education they received. Examining of students' health habits at regular intervals and developing multisectoral on-campus health programs should be considered as an opportunity to improve the health of both students and the community.
Keywords
References
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Details
Primary Language
English
Subjects
Health Care Administration
Journal Section
Research Article
Publication Date
March 31, 2021
Submission Date
December 7, 2020
Acceptance Date
March 31, 2021
Published in Issue
Year 2021 Volume: 43 Number: 1
AMA
1.Dörtkol A, Özdemir L. Evaluation of healthy lifestyle behaviors and related factors in medical students. CMJ. 2021;43(1):20-30. doi:10.7197/cmj.837032