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DIMINISHED PHYSICAL ACTIVITY LEVELS AMONG MEDICAL TRAINEES AND PROVIDERS AND IMPLICATIONS FOR LEARNERS

Abstract

Auston Stiefer1, Krista Kezbers2 & Heather McIntosh2 1OU-TU School of Community Medicine (SCM), Tulsa, OK; 2Office for Research Development & Scholarly Activity, Tulsa, OK

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention(CDC)’s Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans recommends a weekly minimum of 150 minutes of moderately intense aerobic exercise for adults. Yet due to demanding schedules, medical trainees and providers face barriers to achieve this standard. PURPOSE: Thus, the aim of this study was to assess the levels of weekly physical activity among trainees, faculty, and staff at the OU-TU School of Community Medicine (SCM), while identifying additional lifestyle benefits associated with exercise. METHODS: These findings are preliminary results of a larger, longitudinal study that included measures of burnout, stress, and various lifestyle behaviors among physicians and medical trainees. The CDC’s measure for weekly physical activity and the Behavior Risk Factor Surveillance System measure for sleep were included in this analysis. RESULTS: The total surveyed group, including faculty, staff, residents/fellows, and medical and physician associate (PA) students had significantly lower levels of minutes spent exercising per week compared to CDC guidelines (mean = 122.56, p = .002, n = 254). Among the subgroups of this sample, students had higher rates of minutes spent exercising each week (136 min) than the other groups (faculty = 132 min, staff = 120 min, residents/fellows = 103 min). Among the student group, hours of sleep and minutes of weekly physical activity had a moderate, direct relationship (r = .352, p = .030,n = 38). Additionally, in the same group, hours of sleep and levels of stress had a nearly significant, negative relationship (r = -.279,p = 0.090, n = 38).While not statistically significant, it is worth noting the potential impact of decreased sleep on stress levels. CONCLUSION: With increased physical activity being the standard recommendation by physicians in the management of many common chronic conditions, these results suggest that physicians and physician associates (PAs) often advise behavior changes that they themselves may need. Additionally, in the context of the learning environment, medical and PA students who had higher rates of exercise may also benefit from improved sleep and potentially indirectly benefit from lower levels of stress.

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