Physical activity of College of Rehabilitation students

Abstract

Background. Physical activity is one of the most important aspects of health behavior. Medical students in particular should be aware of the positive effects of regular physical activity. Objectives. The purpose of this study was to assess the level of physical activity among physiotherapy students. Material and methods. The study covered 100 full-time and part-time students of the College of Rehabilitation in Warsaw, Poland. The study was conducted by means of a diagnostic survey. The technique used was a survey questionnaire. Analysis of the results was made by comparing groups of students depending on the course of studies, i.e., full-time and part-time. Results. Regular physical activity was practiced by 64% of the subjects, while 36% were physically inactive. The percentage of active students was higher in fulltime students (76.4%), while the percentage of part-time students engaging in physical activity was 51%. The frequency of physical activity was significantly higher in the group of full-time students than in the group of part-time students. Briefly, 27.5% of full-time students participated in physical activity 4–5 times a week, 35.3% 3 times a week (35.3%) and (15.7%) sporadically, while most of part-time students exercised sporadically (44.9%). Conclusions. Physiotherapy students exhibit insufficient levels of physical activity which, given the specificity of their chosen field of study, indicates points to the need for action to shape health behaviors. Full-time students were more active, which may result from having more free time (part-time students reported lack of time due to work or care for children as a cause of insufficient physical activity).