Predictors of physical activity and barriers to exercise in nursing and medical students
Aims To investigate physical activity levels of nursing and medicine students; examine predictors of physical activity level; and examine the most influential benefits and barriers to exercise. Background Healthcare professionals have low levels of physical activity, which increases their hea...
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| Format: | Article |
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Wiley
2017
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| Online Access: | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/38385/ |
| _version_ | 1848795600080863232 |
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| author | Blake, Holly Stanulewicz, Natalia McGill, Francesca |
| author_facet | Blake, Holly Stanulewicz, Natalia McGill, Francesca |
| author_sort | Blake, Holly |
| building | Nottingham Research Data Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | Aims
To investigate physical activity levels of nursing and medicine students; examine predictors of physical activity level; and examine the most influential benefits and barriers to exercise.
Background
Healthcare professionals have low levels of physical activity, which increases their health risk and may influence their health promotion practices with patients.
Design
We surveyed 361 nursing (n=193) and medicine (n=168) students studying at a UK medical school.
Methods
Questionnaire survey, active over 12 months in 2014-2015. Measures included physical activity level, benefits and barriers to exercise, social support, perceived stress and self-efficacy for exercise.
Results
Many nursing and medicine students did not achieve recommended levels of physical activity (nursing: 48%; medicine: 38%). Perceived benefits of exercise were health-related, with medicine students identifying additional benefits for stress-relief. Most notable barriers to exercise were: lack of time, facilities having inconvenient schedules and exercise not fitting around study or placement schedules. Nursing students were less active than medicine students; they perceived fewer benefits and more barriers to exercise and reported lower social support for exercise. Physical activity of nursing and medicine students was best predicted by self-efficacy and social support, explaining 35% of the variance.
Conclusion
Physical activity should be promoted in nursing and medicine students. Interventions should aim to build self-efficacy for exercise and increase social support. Interventions should be developed that are targeted specifically to shift-working frontline care staff, to reduce schedule-related barriers to exercise and increase accessibility to workplace health and wellbeing initiatives. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T19:34:40Z |
| format | Article |
| id | nottingham-38385 |
| institution | University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus |
| institution_category | Local University |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T19:34:40Z |
| publishDate | 2017 |
| publisher | Wiley |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | nottingham-383852020-05-04T18:36:59Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/38385/ Predictors of physical activity and barriers to exercise in nursing and medical students Blake, Holly Stanulewicz, Natalia McGill, Francesca Aims To investigate physical activity levels of nursing and medicine students; examine predictors of physical activity level; and examine the most influential benefits and barriers to exercise. Background Healthcare professionals have low levels of physical activity, which increases their health risk and may influence their health promotion practices with patients. Design We surveyed 361 nursing (n=193) and medicine (n=168) students studying at a UK medical school. Methods Questionnaire survey, active over 12 months in 2014-2015. Measures included physical activity level, benefits and barriers to exercise, social support, perceived stress and self-efficacy for exercise. Results Many nursing and medicine students did not achieve recommended levels of physical activity (nursing: 48%; medicine: 38%). Perceived benefits of exercise were health-related, with medicine students identifying additional benefits for stress-relief. Most notable barriers to exercise were: lack of time, facilities having inconvenient schedules and exercise not fitting around study or placement schedules. Nursing students were less active than medicine students; they perceived fewer benefits and more barriers to exercise and reported lower social support for exercise. Physical activity of nursing and medicine students was best predicted by self-efficacy and social support, explaining 35% of the variance. Conclusion Physical activity should be promoted in nursing and medicine students. Interventions should aim to build self-efficacy for exercise and increase social support. Interventions should be developed that are targeted specifically to shift-working frontline care staff, to reduce schedule-related barriers to exercise and increase accessibility to workplace health and wellbeing initiatives. Wiley 2017-03-09 Article PeerReviewed Blake, Holly, Stanulewicz, Natalia and McGill, Francesca (2017) Predictors of physical activity and barriers to exercise in nursing and medical students. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 73 (4). pp. 917-929. ISSN 1365-2648 Exercise; healthcare students; nursing; physical activity; self-efficacy; social support http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jan.13181/full doi:10.1111/jan.13181 doi:10.1111/jan.13181 |
| spellingShingle | Exercise; healthcare students; nursing; physical activity; self-efficacy; social support Blake, Holly Stanulewicz, Natalia McGill, Francesca Predictors of physical activity and barriers to exercise in nursing and medical students |
| title | Predictors of physical activity and barriers to exercise in nursing and medical students |
| title_full | Predictors of physical activity and barriers to exercise in nursing and medical students |
| title_fullStr | Predictors of physical activity and barriers to exercise in nursing and medical students |
| title_full_unstemmed | Predictors of physical activity and barriers to exercise in nursing and medical students |
| title_short | Predictors of physical activity and barriers to exercise in nursing and medical students |
| title_sort | predictors of physical activity and barriers to exercise in nursing and medical students |
| topic | Exercise; healthcare students; nursing; physical activity; self-efficacy; social support |
| url | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/38385/ https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/38385/ https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/38385/ |