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Lifestyle habits and well-being among primary health physicians in western Saudi Arabia

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Abstract

Aim

This study aimed to assess the lifestyle habits and well-being of primary healthcare physicians working at the Ministry of National Guard Health Affairs in western Saudi Arabia.

Subjects and methods

This cross-sectional study was conducted at the primary healthcare centers affiliated with the National Guard Health Affairs in western Saudi Arabia. A self-administered questionnaire was applied. The questionnaire included the demographic information, medical history, physical activity, and food and smoking habits. The stress level was assessed using the 10-cm visual analog scale. Descriptive statistics were performed.

Results

Participants’ mean (± SD) age was 39.3 ± 12.3 years, and 51.9% of them were female. More than half of the studied physicians were either overweight or obese. In the past 6 months, 40.6% of the participants had followed a diet to reduce their weight and 35% practiced sports 3–4 days/week. Reported chronic diseases were hyperlipidemia, hypertension, bronchial asthma, and diabetes. General health was identified as fair by 15.6%, good by 54.4%, and excellent by 30% of the participants. A moderate-high stress level was perceived by 77.5% of the participants.

Conclusion

Health and well-being promotion programs should be established for physicians in primary care centers coinciding with regular check-ups and screenings for early detection and intervention to reduce the burden of lifestyle-associated diseases among primary care physicians.

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Funding

No funding was provided for this study.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Family Medicine Resident, King Abdulaziz Medical City, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

    Shaima J. Alshareef

  2. King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, King Abdullah International Medical Research Center, King Abdulaziz Medical City, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

    Abdullah Alzahrani & Fayssal M. Farahat

  3. Faculty of Medicine, Menoufia University, Menoufia, Egypt

    Fayssal M. Farahat

Authors
  1. Shaima J. Alshareef
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  2. Abdullah Alzahrani
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  3. Fayssal M. Farahat
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Fayssal M. Farahat.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

The authors have no disclosure to make related to the content of this manuscript.

Ethical approval

This study was approved by the Institutional Review board (IRB) of King Abdullah International Medical Research Center (KAIMRC). All procedures in this study were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki Declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

This article does not contain any studies with animals performed by any of the authors.

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Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Alshareef, S.J., Alzahrani, A. & Farahat, F.M. Lifestyle habits and well-being among primary health physicians in western Saudi Arabia. J Public Health (Berl.) 27, 57–62 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10389-018-0929-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10389-018-0929-1

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