Sports Medicine
Communication
Biosci. Biotech. Res. Comm. 10(4): 805-809 (2017)
Physical activity among Iranian physicians and faculty
members: A cross sectional study
Shahram Mohaghegh
Assistant Professor of Sports and Exercise Medicine, Clinical Research Development Center of Loghman
Hakim Hospital, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
ABSTRACT
As many physicians and faculty members of educational hospitals need to do their tasks in out of hospitals, it seems
to be vulnerable to sedentary life style. Sedentary lifestyle has been associated with many chronic conditions and
recognized as a leading cause of total mortality. It can affect their educational tasks too. As there is little evidences
about this topic, we decided to investigate the physical activity level of physicians and faculty members. Physical
activity level of 80 physicians and faculty members of Loghman Hospital which is an educational hospital of Shahid
Beheshti university of medical sciences was measured by self-completing of international physical activity ques-
tionnaire (IPAQ). Also they are asked about their sex, age, marriage status, degree and type of it, academic ranking,
being a faculty member or not and part time or fulltime employment. Data was analysed with SPSS16 software with
appropriate statistical tests. Physical activity level of physicians and faculty members of Loghman Hospital was in the
range of low to moderate (less than 3000 MET/minute per week). Except for type of educational degree, other vari-
ables were not associated signi cantly with their physical activity levels. Physical activity of emergency physicians,
anaesthesiologist and surgeons was signi cantly higher than of internists. Promotion for increasing physical activity
and exercise of physicians in the university are recommended.
KEY WORDS: PHYSICAL ACTIVITY; EXERCISE; FACULTY MEMBERS; PHYSICIAN; IRAN
805
ARTICLE INFORMATION:
*Corresponding Author: sh.mohaghegh@sbmu.ac.ir
Received 29
th
April, 2017
Accepted after revision 30
th
Sep, 2017
BBRC Print ISSN: 0974-6455
Online ISSN: 2321-4007 CODEN: USA BBRCBA
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© A Society of Science and Nature Publication, 2017. All rights
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Online Contents Available at: http//www.bbrc.in/
DOI: 10.21786/bbrc/10.4/29
806 PHYSICAL ACTIVITY AMONG IRANIAN PHYSICIANS AND FACULTY MEMBERS BIOSCIENCE BIOTECHNOLOGY RESEARCH COMMUNICATIONS
Shahram Mohaghegh
INTRODUCTION
There is the strong evidence that physical activity (PA) is
a crucial determinant of health. The de nition of Physi-
cal activity is “any bodily movement produced by skeletal
muscles that result in energy expenditure”. Exercise is a
subcategory of physical activity which is planned, struc-
tured, repetitive, and purposive for improvement or main-
tenance of one or more components of physical tness,
(Caspersen, Powell et al. 1985). Sedentary lifestyle has
been associated with many chronic conditions and recog-
nized as a leading cause of total mortality in the modern
era, (Mohaghegh and Hajian 2015, Castro, Ng et al. 2017).
Having physical activity and exercise is considered as
primary prevention against 35 chronic non communica-
ble conditions [including accelerated biological aging/
premature death, low cardiorespiratory tness (VO
2
max),
sarcopenia, metabolic syndrome, obesity, insulin resist-
ance, prediabetes, type 2 diabetes, non-alcoholic fatty
liver disease, coronary heart disease, peripheral artery
disease, hypertension, stroke, congestive heart failure,
endothelial dysfunction, arterial dyslipidemia, hemosta-
sis, deep vein thrombosis, cognitive dysfunction, depres-
sion and anxiety, osteoporosis, osteoarthritis, balance,
bone fracture/falls, rheumatoid arthritis, colon cancer,
breast cancer, endometrial cancer, gestational diabe-
tes, preeclampsia, polycystic ovary syndrome, erectile
dysfunction, pain, diverticulitis, constipation, and gall-
bladder diseases, (Booth, Roberts et al. 2012, Hajain
Mohaghegh et al. 2017).
It is estimated that non communicable diseases (NCD)
will account for 73% of deaths and 60% of the global
disease burden by 2020. Cardiovascular disease, cancer,
and diabetes are now among the most prevalent, costly,
and preventable of all health problems (Rao, Darshan
et al. 2012). It has been considered that (9%) of pre-
mature deaths in 2008 worldwide were related with
sedentary life style. Determinants of physical inactivity
includes insuf cient time, injuries, obesity, and lack of
encouragement by family and friends and environmen-
tal factors such as air pollution and lack of facilities,
(Shahram Mohaghegh, Ramin Kordi et al. 2012, Mandil,
Alfurayh et al. 2016).
Available data in Iran shows that national and
regional inactivity among Iranian people is a serious
and prevalent issue. Reported inactivity ranged from
approximately 30% to 70% with considerable varia-
tion between sexes and studied sub-groups, (Fakhrza-
deh, Djalalinia et al. 2016). However, there is a lack of
data from Iran, especially among some sub-population
groups. Physicians and faculty members are one of such
subgroups .They are highly educated and may be more
engaged in physical activity than others. On the other
hand as many physicians and faculty members of edu-
cational hospitals need to do their tasks in out of hospi-
tals, it seems to be vulnerable to sedentary life style. As
there is little evidences about this topic, we decided to
investigate the physical activity level of physicians and
faculty members of Loghman hospital which is an edu-
cational hospital of Shahid Beheshti University of Medi-
cal Sciences in Tehran, Iran.
MATERIAL AND METHODS
In the current cross-sectional study, after proper instruc-
tion and obtaining written consent, the Persian-trans-
lated long form self-completed International Physical
Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ) was used for assessing
physical activity level of 80 physicians and faculty
members of Loghman Hospital in Tehran, Iran in sum-
mer 2017. The validity and reliability of this version
of IPAQ have already been proven in Iranian sample
of individuals (Vasheghani-Farahani, Tahmasbi et al.
2011). The results were expressed as low (less than 600
metabolic equivalent (MET). minute per week), medium
(between 600 to 3000 MET. minute per week), and high
(more than 3000 MET. minute per week) level of physi-
cal activity. There was no limitation in data gathering
and all physicians and faculty members of the hospital
who participated in the research were questioned. Also
they were asked about their sex, age, marriage status,
degree and type of it, academic ranking, being a faculty
member or not and part time or fulltime employment
in University. Data was analysed with SPSS16 software
with appropriate statistical tests.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Totally, 80 doctors and faculty members were evaluated:
26 females (32.5%) and 54 males (67.5%) with the aver-
age age of 44.2, minimum 30 and maximum 72 years.
Other epidemiologic characteristics of patients are pro-
vided in Table 1.
Mean of physical activity level of all participants
were 429.98 MET. Minute/week. A total of 58 individu-
als (72.5%) had low physical activity level, 15 individu-
als (18.8%) medium, and no one (0%) had high physical
activity level. There was no data about physical activ-
ity level of 7 persons. There were not signi cant differ-
ences in age, sex, marriage status, duration of employ-
ments, being a faculty member or not, and academic
ranking for faculty members between persons with low
and medium physical activity levels (p value more than
0.05). There was signi cant difference in terms of dif-
ferent physical activity levels between the doctors and
faculty members who were internist (not surgeon) and
surgeons, anaesthesiologists and emergency medicine
BIOSCIENCE BIOTECHNOLOGY RESEARCH COMMUNICATIONS PHYSICAL ACTIVITY AMONG IRANIAN PHYSICIANS AND FACULTY MEMBERS 807
Shahram Mohaghegh
Table 1. Some epidemiological characteristics of physicians and faculty
members who participated in this study
Variable Description Number Percent
Marriage status
Single 9 11.5
Married 71 88.5
Educational Degree
General Practitioners (GPs) 2 2.5
Internists (not surgeons) 47 58.8
Surgeons 20 25
anaesthesiologists and
emergency medicine specialists
10 13
Being a faculty member
yes 64 79.7
No 16 20.3
Academic Ranking of
faculty members
Assistant Professor 44 54.4
Associate Professor 14 17.7
Full Professor 6 7.6
Duration of employment
Less than or equal 10 years 46 58.1
11–20 years 15 18.9
21-30 years 14 17.6
More than 30 years 5 5.4
Table 2. Mean of physical activity levels of doctors and faculty members according to
type of speciality of them
Type of degree Mean (MET minute/week) Number Std. Deviation
General Practitioners (GP) 190.0000 1 .
Internists 287.8444 45 307.35588
Surgeons 608.3333 18 657.19323
Emergency medicine specialists
and anaesthesiologists
632.2222 9 468.98235
Total 429.9863 73 458.41770
specialists(p value less than 0.014), which means in low
physical activity group internists had relatively higher
percentage (70 percent) than their surgeon, anaesthesi-
ologist and emergency medicine specialist counterparts
(30 percent). Totally there was signi cant difference in
physical activity level of internists(non surgeons) and
surgeons, anaesthesiologists and emergency medicine
specialists (P value less than 0.027) (Table 2). The highest
physical activity level was related to anaesthesiologists
and emergency medicine specialists, surgeons, Internists
and GPs respectively.
According to the ndings of the present study, mean
of physical activity level of physicians and faculty
members were 429.98 MET. Minute/week which was
considered in the range of low physical activity level.
Most (72.5 percent) of the participants in our study had
low physical activity level and only 18.8 percent had
medium physical activity level. These ndings are con-
sistent with data of some national and province-based
studies about sedentary life style in Iranian people,
(Janghorbani, Amini et al. 2008), (Alikhani, Delavari
et al. 2009) and (Janghorbani, Amini et al. 2007). How-
ever, there are some studies which reported higher levels
of physical activity in Iran (Esteghamati, Khalilzadeh
et al. 2011). These differences may be due to using differ-
ent questionnaire which makes understudy comparison
dif cult or different studied sub-populations.
One study with similar participants which was con-
ducted in emergency medical personnel in Hamedan
Province of Iran, reported the prevalence of low, medium
and high physical activity levels to be 73.5%, 24% and
2% respectively which is very close to our prevalence
rate, (Gharlipour Gharghani, Sayarpour et al. 2011).
In the present study, there was not any signi cant
difference in gender ratio of persons with low and
medium physical activity levels. This is in contrast of
most of data about physical activity levels of women
in Iran which indicates lower physical activity of Ira-
nian women compared to men, (Hajain Mohaghegh
et al. 2017). The possible explanation for this difference
Shahram Mohaghegh
808 PHYSICAL ACTIVITY AMONG IRANIAN PHYSICIANS AND FACULTY MEMBERS BIOSCIENCE BIOTECHNOLOGY RESEARCH COMMUNICATIONS
may be that female physicians and faculty members are
highly educated and acknowledge the bene ts of physi-
cal activity and exercise. Another important nding in
our study was signi cant lower physical activity level
of internists compared to anaesthesiologists and emer-
gency medicine specialists. Maybe the working lifestyle
of these physicians makes them more physically active.
There are some data about higher physical activity of
physicians in some countries. A national study in Saudi
Arabia 2015 showed that 65.2% of primary health care
physicians were performing moderate to vigorous physi-
cal activities while 34.8% of them were physically inac-
tive, (Lobelo and de Quevedo 2016).
Another study conducted in female family doctors in
Estonia 2010 indicated that 92% of doctors have mod-
erate to high level of physical activity, (Suija, Pechter
et al. 2010). It seems that for the physicians and faculty
members, lack of time was the most important reason
for not practicing in physical activities and exercise.
This is believable and indicated in previous studies as
the most important reason of sedentary life style among
physicians (Bahram, Abbas et al. 2003). As physicians
who are faculty members have more working hours
and related responsibilities it is expected to have seden-
tary lifestyle. On the other hand, increasing the physi-
cal activity of physicians and faculty members can
enhance their counselling role about physical activity
and exercise, improve job satisfaction and reduce rates
of depression and nally improve patient care (Williams,
Williams et al. 2015). This study has some limitations.
First, the study was done in just one educational hospital
and so the results cannot be expanded. Second, physical
activity level of participants was measured subjectively
by self-completing of the questionnaire which can be
different between persons. It is proposed for future stud-
ies to include more hospitals and educational centers
and use objective tools for measuring physical activity
(such as pedometer).
CONCLUSION
As sedentary lifestyle is common among physicians
and faculty members, promotion for increasing physical
activity and exercise in this group is recommended. This
can enhance their health and increase their job satis-
faction and productivity. Also increasing the number of
physicians and faculty members in educational hospi-
tals can provide enough time for them to practice more
physical activity and exercise.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The fund of this study was provided by research pro-
posal number 4590 of Shahid Beheshti University of
medical sciences, Clinical Research Development Center
of Loghman Hakim Hospital. The author gratefully
acknowledges Professor Latif Gachkar and Dr Maryam
Hajian for their contribution and assistance of the sta-
tistical analysis and Mrs Effat Barari for her contribution
in data collection.
CONFLICT OF INTEREST
There is no con ict of interest.
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