You are here

Home » Content

Perceptions and Attitudes of Primary Healthcare Providers in Riyadh City, Saudi Arabia, towards the Promotion of Physical Activity

Journal Name:

  • International Journal of Medical Research & Health Sciences

Publication Year:

  • 2017

Key Words:

Author Name
Abstract (2. Language): 
Background: Physical inactivity increases the risk of several chronic, non-communicable diseases which ultimately reduces life expectancy. Recently, major lifestyle changes in Saudi Arabia due to economic growth, globalization, and modernization resulted in physical inactivity and low level of physical fitness. Health care professionals can play an important role in developing awareness about physical fitness among people. However, little is known about the impact of current health promotion practices of Saudi healthcare providers. This cross-sectional study evaluates Saudi primary healthcare providers’ attitudes, knowledge, and awareness associated with advising patients about physical activity during routine consultations. Methods: A quantitative survey on 803 respondents who comprised of general physicians, nurses, nurse assistants, dieticians and health educators in five districts of Riyadh city, Saudi Arabia was conducted using convenience sampling method. Results: The data showed that most of the primary care staffs are quite enthusiastic in promoting physical activity among the patients and revealed that they routinely discussed and advised about the benefits of physical fitness. However, there are some factors acting as barriers for promoting physical activity, such as i) lack of time, ii) lack of educational materials for patients, iii) lack of proper training and protocols for health care professionals, iv) lack of patient cooperation, and v) lack of financial incentive. Conclusion: Proper strategies should be developed to motivate primary health care professionals, so that they can effectively encourage the general population to be more active physically. Hence, there is an urgent need to integrate physical activity promotion in to practice consultation in Saudi Arabia. In addition, more efforts are required from the policy makers and health professionals to gather sufficient knowledge about current physical activity recommendations.
Bookmark/Search this post with
FULL TEXT (PDF): 
PDF icon arastirmax-perceptions-and-attitudes-primary-healthcare-providers-riyadh-city-saudi-arabia-towards-promotion-physical-activity.pdf
  • 11
1
13
  • English

REFERENCES

References: 

[1] Adams, Troy B., Monique T. Moore, and John Dye. “The relationship between physical activity and mental
health in a national sample of college females.” Women & Health Vol. 45, No. 1, 2007, pp. 69-85.
[2] Hlaing, WayWay, Subrata D. Nath, and Fatma G. Huffman. “Assessing overweight and cardiovascular risks
among college students.” American Journal of Health Education Vol. 38, No. 2, 2007, pp. 83-90.
[3] Lee, I-Min, et al. “Effect of physical inactivity on major non-communicable diseases worldwide: an analysis of
burden of disease and life expectancy.” The Lancet Vol. 380, No. 9838, 2012, pp. 219-29.
[4] US Department of Health and Human Services. Healthy people 2010: Understanding and improving health.
2010. Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office.
[5] World Health Organization. “Global Recommendations on Physical Activity for Health: 18-64 years old.” World
Health Organization, 2011, http://www.who.int/dietphysicalactivity/physical-activity-recommendation...
64years.pdf.
[6] Bauman, Adrian E. “Updating the evidence that physical activity is good for health: an epidemiological review
2000–2003.” Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport Vol. 7, No. 1, 2004, pp. 6-19.
[7] Blaber, Amanda Y. “Exercise: who needs it?” British Journal of Nursing Vol. 14, No. 18, 2005.
[8] Davidson, Lance. “Should doctors recommend a specific exercise program for elderly patients?” Aging
Health Vol. 5, No. 3, 2009, pp. 263-64.
[9] Warburton, Darren E.R., Crystal Whitney Nicol, and Shannon SD Bredin. “Health benefits of physical activity:
the evidence.” Canadian Medical Association Journal Vol. 174, No. 6, 2006, pp. 801-09.
[10] Al-Hazzaa, H.M. “Prevalence of physical inactivity in Saudi Arabia: a brief review.” East Mediterranean Health
Journal Vol. 10, 2004, pp. 663-70.
[11] Al-Hazzaa, Hazzaa M. “Health-enhancing physical activity among Saudi adults using the International Physical
Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ).” Public Health Nutrition Vol. 10, No. 1, 2007, pp. 59-64.
[12] Al-Hazzaa, Hazzaa M., et al. “Physical activity, sedentary behaviors and dietary habits among Saudi adolescents
relative to age, gender and region.” International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity Vol. 8,
No. 1, 2011, p. 140.
[13] Awadalla, N. J., et al. “Assessment of physical inactivity and perceived barriers to physical activity among health
college students, south-western Saudi Arabia [Évaluation de la sédentarité et des obstacles perçus à l’activité
physique chez des étudiants en santé dans le sud-ouest de l’Arabie saoudite.]” Eastern Mediterranean Health
Journal Vol. 20, No. 10, 2014, p. 596.
[14] Al-Daghri, Nasser M., et al. “Diabetes mellitus type 2 and other chronic non-communicable diseases in the
central region, Saudi Arabia (Riyadh cohort 2): a decade of an epidemic.” BMC Medicine Vol. 9, No. 1, 2011, p. 76.
[15] El-Sayed, Mervat MA, and F. Y. Abdel Megeid. “Osteoporosis-related life habits, knowledge and attitude among
group of female employees in King Saud University.” World Applied Sciences Journal Vol. 22, No. 7, 2013, pp.
919-25.
[16] Mahfouz, Ahmed A., et al. “Nutrition, physical activity, and gender risks for adolescent obesity in Southwestern
Saudi Arabia.” Saudi Journal of Gastroenterology: Official Journal of the Saudi Gastroenterology Association Vol.
17, No. 5, 2011, p. 318.
[17] World Health Organization. “The impact of chronic disease in Saudi Arabia.” World Health Organization 2002,
www.who.int/chp/chronic_disease_report/en.
[18] Douglas, Flora, et al. “Primary Care Staff’s Views and Experiences Related to Routinely Advising Patients about
Physical Activity. A Questionnaire Survey.” BMC Public Health Vol. 6, No. 1, 2006, p. 138.
[19] Hébert, Emily T., Margaret O. Caughy, and Kerem Shuval. “Primary care providers’ perceptions of physical
activity counselling in a clinical setting: a systematic review.” British Journal of Sports Medicine Vol. 46, No.
9, 2012, pp. 625-31.
[20] Marcus, B. H., et al. “Physical activity intervention studies: What we know and what we need to know: A scientific
statement from the AHA council on nutrition, physical activity and metabolism; council on cardiovascular disease
in the young; and the interdisciplinary working group on quality of care and outcomes research.” AHA Scientific
Statements 2006, pp. 2739-52.
Al-Ghamdi, et al. Int J Med Res Health Sci 2017, 6(11): 1-13
13
[21] Ribera, A. Puig, Jim McKenna, and C. Riddoch. “Attitudes and practices of physicians and nurses regarding
physical activity promotion in the Catalan primary health-care system.” The European Journal of Public
Health Vol. 15, No. 6, 2005, pp. 569-75.
[22] Aldossary, Ameera, Louise Barriball, and Alison While. “The perceived health promotion practice of nurses in
Saudi Arabia.” Health Promotion International Vol. 28, No. 3, 2012, pp. 431-41.
[23] Aljaberi AS. “Assessment of physical activity (counseling) at primary health care centers in Aseer Region, Saudi
Arabia.” Medical Journal of Cairo University Vol. 2, 2014, pp. 207-13.
[24] Midhet, Farid, Abdul Rahman Al Mohaimeed, and Fawzy Sharaf. “Dietary practices, physical activity and health
education in Qassim region of Saudi Arabia.” International Journal of Health Sciences Vol. 4, No. 1, 2010, p. 3.
[25] Midhet, Farid M., and Fawzy K. Sharaf. “Impact of health education on lifestyles in central Saudi Arabia.” Saudi
Medical Journal Vol. 32, No. 1, 2011, pp. 71-76.
[26] Lawlor, Deborah A., Steven Keen, and Richard D. Neal. “Increasing population levels of physical activity
through primary care: GPs’ knowledge, attitudes and self-reported practice.” Family Practice Vol. 16, No. 3,
1999, pp. 250-54.
[27] Glanz, Karen, and Donald B. Bishop. “The role of behavioral science theory in development and implementation
of public health interventions.” Annual Review of Public Health Vol. 31, 2010, pp. 399-418.
[28] Jones, Christina L., et al. “The health belief model as an explanatory framework in communication research:
exploring parallel, serial, and moderated mediation.” Health Communication Vol. 30, No. 6, 2015, pp. 566-76.
[29] Charan, Jaykaran, and Tamoghna Biswas. “How to calculate sample size for different study designs in medical
research?” Indian Journal of Psychological Medicine Vol. 35, No. 2, 2013, p. 121.
[30] Statistics Book. Ministry of Health - Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. 2015, http://www.moh.gov.sa/en/Ministry/
Statistics/book/Pages/default.aspx.
[31] Tavakol, Mohsen, and Reg Dennick. “Making sense of Cronbach’s alpha.” International Journal of Medical
Education Vol. 2, 2011, p. 53.
[32] Parker, Whadi-ah, et al. “They think they know but do they? Misalignment of perceptions of lifestyle modification
knowledge among health professionals.” Public Health Nutrition Vol. 14, No. 8, 2011, pp. 1429-38.
[33] Schober MM. “Health policy for advanced practice registered nurses: An international perspective.” Health
Policy and Advanced Practice Nursing: Impact and Implications, edited by Kelly A. Goudreau and Mary
Smolenski, Springer, 2014.
[34] Elley, C. Raina, et al. “Effectiveness of counselling patients on physical activity in general practice: cluster
randomised controlled trial.” British Medical Journal Vol. 326, No. 7393, 2003, p. 793.
[35] Clark, Daniel O. “Physical activity and its correlates among urban primary care patients aged 55 years or
older.” The Journals of Gerontology Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences 54.1 (1999): S41-S48.
[36] Ogilvie, David, et al. “Interventions to promote walking: systematic review.” British Medical Journal 2007.
[37] Holtgraves, Thomas. “Social desirability and self-reports: Testing models of socially desirable
responding.” Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin Vol. 30, No. 2, 2004, pp. 161-72.
[38] Van de Mortel, Thea F. “Faking it: social desirability response bias in self-report research.” Australian Journal
of Advanced Nursing Vol. 25, No. 4, 2008, p. 40.
[39] Amin, Tarek Tawfik, et al. “Pattern, prevalence, and perceived personal barriers toward physical activity among
adult Saudis in Al-Hassa, KSA.” Journal of Physical Activity and Health Vol. 8, No. 6, 2011, pp. 775-84.
[40] Al-Otaibi, Hala Hazam. “Measuring stages of change, perceived barriers and self-efficacy for physical activity in
Saudi Arabia.” Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention Vol. 14, No. 2, 2013, pp. 1009-16.
[41] El-Gilany, A., and Ragaa El-Masry. “Physical inactivity among Egyptian and Saudi medical students.” TAF
Preventive Medicine Bulletin Vol. 10, No. 1, 2011, pp. 35-44.
[42] Samara, Anastasia, et al. “Lack of facilities rather than sociocultural factors as the primary barrier to physical
activity among female Saudi university students.” International Journal of Women’s Health Vol. 7, 2015, p. 279.
[43] Eakin, Elizabeth G., Ben J. Smith, and Adrian E. Bauman. “Evaluating the population health impact of physical
activity interventions in primary care-are we asking the right questions?” Journal of Physical Activity and
Health Vol. 2, No. 2, 2005, pp. 197-215.

Thank you for copying data from http://www.arastirmax.com