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JOURNAL
OF
SPORTS SCIENCE &
MEDICINE
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Research
article
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ATTITUDES OF MEDICAL STUDENTS, CLINICIANS AND SPORTS SCIENTISTS TOWARDS EXERCISE COUNSELLING |
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Abbyrhamy Gnanendran1, David B. Pyne1,2  ,
Kieran E. Fallon1,2 and Peter A. Fricker1,2 |
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1Medical School, The Australian National University, Canberra, 2Australian Institute of Sport, Canberra, Australia |
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© Journal of Sports Science and Medicine (2011) 10, 426 - 431 |
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| ABSTRACT | |||
| We compared the amount of exercise undertaken by medical students,
clinicians, and sport scientists with the National Australian Physical Activity
(NAPA) Guidelines. A second aim was to compare attitudes to exercise counselling
as preventive medicine between university- and clinic-based professionals.
The research setting was a university medical school and a sports science
sports medicine centre. A 20-item questionnaire was completed by 216 individuals
(131 medical students, 43 clinicians and 37 sports scientists). Self-reported
physical activity habits, exercise counselling practices and attitudes towards
preventive medicine were assessed. The physical activity undertaken by most
respondents (70%) met NAPA Guidelines. General practitioners had significantly
lower compliance rates with NAPA Guidelines than other professionals. More
than half of clinicians and medical students (54%) were less active now
compared with levels of activity undertaken prior to graduate training.
Most physicians (68%) reported they sometimes discuss physical activity
with patients. In contrast, the majority of non-medically qualified respondents
(60%) said they never discuss physical activity with their doctor. Most
respondents (70%) had positive attitudes to exercise counselling. Sports
scientists and respondents who were highly active in childhood had more
positive attitudes to exercise counselling than others. Health professionals
in this study were more active than the general population, however healthy
exercise habits tend to deteriorate after the commencement of medical training.
Despite the important role of doctors in health promotion, the degree of
exercise counselling to patients is low.
Key words: Physical activity, exercise, counselling, university, medical school, attitudes. |
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