Physical Activity (PA) of Pre-Clinical and Clinical Medical
Students: Is Clinical Medical Student Less Physically
Active than Pre-Clinical Medical Student?
Kawinchaya Poolsombat¹, Phumyanee Changchit¹, Variya Tangpanitansook¹, Punyapapha Changchit¹,
Chitrlada Utaipiboon MD² , ⁴, Paween Tangchitphisut MD³ , ⁴
Affiliation : ¹ Medical student, School of Medicine, Mae Fah Luang University, Chiang Rai, Thailand ² Department of Community Medicine, School of Medicine, Mae Fah Luang University, Chiang Rai, Thailand ³ Department of Orthopedics, School of Medicine, Mae Fah Luang University, Chiang Rai, Thailand ⁴ Group of Health System and Clinical Research, School of Medicine, Mae Fah Luang University, Chiang Rai, Thailand
Background: An increase of sedentary behavior was observed in each year especially in clinical year. This accounts for a decrease in physical
activities (PAs) of medical students, which could lead to reduced overall health and physical performance.
Objective: To compare the levels of PA between pre-clinical and clinical medical students of Mae Fah Luang University (MFU) and to explored association between the levels of PA and school year.
Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted between May and August 2019. Online questionnaire, including personal profiles and global PA questionnaire, were distributed to all MFU medical students currently studying in the academic year of 2019.
Results: One hundred fifty-six medical students participated in the present study. From the questionnaires, 67.74% of pre-clinical medical students (n=63) and 52.99% of clinical medical students (n=36) had moderate to high levels of PA. Pre-Clinical students had significantly higher levels of PA by median metabolic equivalent value (MET) at 1,908.73 versus 1,339.05 MET-minutes/week (p=0.03). The sixth-year medical students increased risk of lower PA than the first year about 8.34 times (p<0.01).
Conclusion: One-third of the medical students reported as having low levels of PA. Clinical medical students had reduced levels of PA compared to pre-clinical medical students. Therefore, PA should be promoted to help increase the overall health of medical students.
Received 9 March 2021 | Revised 3 October 2021 | Accepted 4 October 2021
doi.org/10.35755/jmedassocthai.2021.12.12584
Keywords :
Physical activity; Metabolic; Equivalent; Medical Student; Clinic; Pre-clinic
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