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      Do Our Medical Colleges Inculcate Health-Promoting Lifestyle Among Medical Students: A Pilot Study from Two Medical Colleges from Southern India

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          Abstract

          Background:

          Behavioral risk factors are responsible for a substantial portion of chronic disease. Educating patients is a professional responsibility of medical practitioners. However, it has been observed that physicians did not practice what they preach. To study whether medical colleges inculcate health-promoting lifestyle among medical students during their stay in medical colleges.

          Methods:

          A cross-sectional study conducted in two conveniently selected medical colleges in southern India. Fourth year MBBS students were included in the study. A pre-tested self-administered multiple choice type questionnaire was used to collect data. Information was sought on the behavioral factors, namely smoking, alcohol use, junk food consumption, and physical activity, before joining the medical college and at the time of the study. SPSS version 10.0 was used to analyze the data. Frequencies, proportions, chi-square test.

          Results:

          Out of 176 respondents, 94 (53%) were males and 82 (47%) were females. The number of smokers had increased from 24 (13.6%) to 46 (26.1%) and the number of alcohol consumers from 34 (19.3%) to 77 (43.8%) since they joined medical college. The number of students doing any physical activity declined from 76 (43.2%) to 43 (24.4%) and their food habits became unhealthier during the same period.

          Conclusions:

          The study reported an increase in health-risking behavior and a decline in health-promoting behavior among medical students during their stay in medical college.

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          Most cited references14

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          Physician disclosure of healthy personal behaviors improves credibility and ability to motivate.

          E. Frank (2000)
          While some studies have shown that physicians with healthy personal habits are especially likely to discuss prevention with their patients, to our knowledge no one has published information testing whether physician credibility and patient motivation to adopt healthier habits are enhanced by physician's disclosures of their own healthy behaviors. Two brief health education videos about improving diet and exercise were produced and shown to subjects (n1 = 66, n2 = 65) in an Emory University general medical clinic waiting room in Atlanta, Ga. In one video, the physician revealed an additional half minute of information about her personal healthy dietary and exercise practices and had a bike helmet and an apple visible on her desk (physician-disclosure video). In the other video, discussion of personal practices and the apple and bike helmet were not included (control video). Viewers of the physician-disclosure video considered the physician to be generally healthier, some-what more believable, and more motivating than did viewers of the control video. They also rated this physician to be specifically more believable and motivating regarding exercise and diet (P < or = .001). Physicians' abilities to motivate patients to adopt healthy habits can be enhanced by conveying their own healthy habits. Educational institutions should consider encouraging health professionals-in-training to practice and demonstrate healthy personal lifestyles.
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            Correlates of physicians' prevention-related practices. Findings from the Women Physicians' Health Study.

            Determinants of physicians' prevention-related counseling and screening practices are not well understood. Such determinants are worth knowing because we can then intervene on malleable variables and produce physicians with stronger prevention-related skills. Of the few such variables that have been examined, they have typically only been studied in univariate analyses or in small or otherwise limited populations and have been especially sparsely studied in women physicians. To explore the effect of potential counseling- and screening-related variables in 4501 respondents to the Women Physicians' Health Study, a questionnaire-based study of a representative sample of US women MDs. Being a primary care practitioner and practicing a related health habit oneself were significantly correlated with reporting counseling and screening for all prevention-related variables examined. Current attempts to improve a related habit oneself, ethnicity, region, practice site, and amount of continuing medical education were sometimes significantly correlated with counseling and screening; most other variables studied (i.e., personal health status, a personal or family history of disease, control of work environment, and career satisfaction) were rarely significantly correlated. Being a primary care practitioner and having related healthy habits oneself were the most significant correlates of US women physicians' self-reported prevention-related counseling and screening practices. These findings suggest potential new directions for physician training.
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              Association between risk factors for injurious falls and new benzodiazepine prescribing in elderly persons

              Background Benzodiazepines are frequently prescribed to elderly patients' despite concerns about adverse effects leading to injurious falls. Previous studies have not investigated the extent to which patients with pre-existing risk factors for falls are prescribed benzodiazepines. The objective of this study is to assess if some of the risk factors for falls are associated with new benzodiazepine prescriptions in elderly persons. Methods Using provincial administrative databases, elderly Quebec residents were screened in 1989 for benzodiazepine use and non-users were followed for up to 5 years. Logistic regression models were used to evaluate potential predictors of new benzodiazepine use among patient baseline characteristics. Results In the 252,811 elderly patients who had no benzodiazepine prescription during the baseline year (1989), 174,444 (69%) never filled a benzodiazepine prescription and 78,367 (31%) filled at least one benzodiazepine prescription. In the adjusted analysis, several risk factors for falls were associated with statistically significant increases in the risk of receiving a new benzodiazepine prescription including the number of prescribing physicians seen at baseline (OR: 1.12; 95% CI 1.11–1.13), being female (OR: 1.20; 95% CI 1.18–1.22) or a diagnosis of arthritis (OR: 1.11; 95% CI 1.09–1.14), depression (OR: 1.42; 95% CI 1.35–1.49) or alcohol abuse (OR: 1.24; 95% CI 1.05–1.46). The strongest predictor for starting a benzodiazepine was the use of other medications, particularly anti-depressants (OR: 1.85; 95% CI 1.75–1.95). Conclusion Patients with pre-existing conditions that increase the risk of injurious falls are significantly more likely to receive a new prescription for a benzodiazepine. The strength of the association between previous medication use and new benzodiazepine prescriptions highlights an important medication safety issue.
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                Author and article information

                Journal
                Int J Prev Med
                Int J Prev Med
                IJPVM
                International Journal of Preventive Medicine
                Medknow Publications & Media Pvt Ltd (India )
                2008-7802
                2008-8213
                April 2013
                : 4
                : 4
                : 425-429
                Affiliations
                [1]Department of Community Medicine, BPS Govt. Medical College For Women Khanpur Kalan, Sonepat India
                Author notes
                Correspondence to: Prof. JP Majra, Department of Community Medicine, BPS Govt. Medical College For Women Khanpur Kalan, Sonepat, India E-mail: jpmajra@ 123456hotmail.com
                Article
                IJPVM-4-425
                3650594
                23671774
                a6411625-0559-48ad-8bbe-6721976244df
                Copyright: © International Journal of Preventive Medicine

                This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

                History
                : 05 November 2011
                : 31 March 2012
                Categories
                Original Article

                Health & Social care
                lifestyle,medical colleges,medical students
                Health & Social care
                lifestyle, medical colleges, medical students

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