Physical inactivity among physiotherapy undergraduates: exploring the knowledge-practice gap

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Abstract

Background

Physical inactivity is a common risk factor for several non-communicable diseases (NCDs). Increasing physical activity could reduce the burden of disease due to major NCDs and increase life expectancy. Undergraduate physiotherapy students represent a group of young-adults expected to have a good knowledge of physical activity. We evaluated physical activity levels of undergraduate physiotherapy students of University of Colombo, Sri Lanka and determined their motives and barriers for participation in physical activity.

Methods

All physiotherapy undergraduates studying at the University of Colombo, Sri Lanka in 2013 were invited for the study. Phase one was a quantitative study to evaluate the physical activity levels and phase two was a qualitative study to identify motives and barriers for physical activity and sports in the same cohort. Physical activity levels (phase 1) were assessed using the interviewer administered International Physical Activity Questionnaire (long-version). The qualitative study (phase 2) was conducted in the same population using Focus Group Discussions ( n = 3) and individual In-depth Interviews ( n = 5).

Results

Sample size in phase 1 and phase 2 were 113 (response rate = 98%; [N-115]) and 87 (response rat = 97%; [N-90]) respectively. Mean age (±SD) of participants was 23.4 ± 1 years. The mean weekly total MET minutes (±SD) of the study population was 1791.25 ± 3097. According to the IPAQ categorical score a higher percentage of participants were ‘inactive’ (48.7%), while only 15.9% were in the ‘Highly active’ group. Lack of support and encouragement received during childhood to engage in sports activity seem to have played an important role in continuing their exercise behavior through to the adult life. Academic activities were given priority by both parents and teachers. The environment and support from teachers, family and friends were important to initiate and adhere to sports and physical activity.

Conclusions

A higher percentage of participants were ‘inactive’, in spite of belonging to a group which is presumed to be knowledgeable regarding the benefits of physical activity. A significant negative attitude towards physical activity was observed in this cohort of young-adults. This seems to stem from earlier in life, due to lack of support and motivation for physical exercise and sports, received during primary and secondary schooling. This negative attitude has become a significant ‘internal’ barrier, which has not been changed in spite of their education.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13102-016-0063-8) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Related collections

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Author and article information

Contributors

Chathuranga Ranasinghe: 0094773707016 , chath_r@yahoo.com.au

Chathurani Sigera: chathuranispt@gmail.com

Priyanga Ranasinghe:

ORCID: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-1522-9276

priyanga.ranasinghe@gmail.com

Ranil Jayawardena: ranil7@gmail.com

Ayodya C. R. Ranasinghe: ayodyarodrigo@yahoo.com

Andrew P. Hills: andrew.hills@utas.edu.au

Neil King: n.king@qut.edu.au

Journal

Journal ID (nlm-ta): BMC Sports Sci Med Rehabil

Journal ID (iso-abbrev): BMC Sports Sci Med Rehabil

Title: BMC Sports Science, Medicine and Rehabilitation

Publisher: BioMed Central (London )

ISSN (Electronic): 2052-1847

Publication date (Electronic): 7 December 2016

Publication date PMC-release: 7 December 2016

Publication date Collection: 2016

Volume: 8

Electronic Location Identifier: 39

Affiliations

[1 ]Department of Allied Health Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, University of Colombo, Colombo, Sri Lanka

[2 ]School of Exercise and Nutrition Sciences, Faculty of Health, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia

[3 ]Ministry of Health and Nutrition, Colombo, Sri Lanka

[4 ]Department of Pharmacology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Colombo, Colombo, Sri Lanka

[5 ]Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Colombo, Colombo, Sri Lanka

[6 ]School of Health Sciences, University of Tasmania, Launceston, TAS Australia

Author information

Priyanga Ranasinghe http://orcid.org/0000-0002-1522-9276

Article

Publisher ID: 63

DOI: 10.1186/s13102-016-0063-8

PMC ID: 5142393

PubMed ID: 27980791

SO-VID: 4369cd25-ece3-4c82-828d-790a4adac8eb

License:

Open AccessThis article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver ( http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.

History

Date received : 26 May 2016

Date accepted : 30 November 2016

Custom metadata

Keywords: physical activity,physiotherapy undergraduates,sri lanka,knowledge-practice gap

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Keywords: physical activity, physiotherapy undergraduates, sri lanka, knowledge-practice gap