Lifestyle Pattern Assessment among Taif University Medical Students (Published)
Introduction: Medical school is stressful throughout all courses of practicing which may contribute to the student’s unhealthy lifestyle patterns. The primary goal of the study is to assess the healthy habits practice among Taif University medical students and its relation to academic level. Methods: A cross-sectional study of the medical students from the second to sixth year at Taif University School of Medicine, Taif, Saudi Arabia that was conducted between December 2015 and January 2016. We used a Lifestyle Assessment Inventory questionnaire to assess the healthy habits. Each positive healthy response from each participant was counted as 1 point with a maximum score of 24 points. Those scored>18 points were considered to have very healthy lifestyle. Result: A total of 204 student with a mean age of 22.1 years, and majority of them were 5th year student. 52.9% reports unhealthy lifestyle patterns. Compared to the junior medical students, senior medical students were more likely to be older (p <0.001), more likely to reports very healthy lifestyle (p <0.011), walk more than junior (p 0.454), play less sport (p 0.856), find it easier to relax (p 0.331), more able to cope with daily stress (p 0.713), less likely to use seat belt (p 0.226), less likely to over speed (p 0.648), more likely to report optimal sleep (p 0.568), reports less family support (p 0.006), less likely to have close friends (p 0.009), less likely to smoke (p <0.001),less likely to reports eating 3 balanced meals per day (p 0.0403) (Table 2). Conclusion: Overall, 52.9% of the screened students reports unhealthy lifestyle patterns. Seniors were significantly less likely to report social support, smoke and to use tobacco products.