Diet, exercise and mental-wellbeing of healthcare professionals (doctors, dentists and nurses) in Pakistan
Background. “Health is wealth” is a time tested adage. Health becomes more relevant when it comes to professionals whose job is to provide people with services that maintain an optimum state of mental, physical and social well-being. Healthcare professionals (HCP) differ from general population in r...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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PeerJ Inc.
2015-09-01
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| Series: | PeerJ |
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| Online Access: | https://peerj.com/articles/1250.pdf |
| _version_ | 1797418889194242048 |
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| author | Waqas Ahmad Frances Taggart Muhammad Shoaib Shafique Yumna Muzafar Shehnam Abidi Noor Ghani Zahra Malik Tehmina Zahid Ahmed Waqas Naila Ghaffar |
| author_facet | Waqas Ahmad Frances Taggart Muhammad Shoaib Shafique Yumna Muzafar Shehnam Abidi Noor Ghani Zahra Malik Tehmina Zahid Ahmed Waqas Naila Ghaffar |
| author_sort | Waqas Ahmad |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Background. “Health is wealth” is a time tested adage. Health becomes more relevant when it comes to professionals whose job is to provide people with services that maintain an optimum state of mental, physical and social well-being. Healthcare professionals (HCP) differ from general population in regards to the nature of their work, stress, burnout etc. which begs the need to have a robust state of health for the ones who provide it to others. We initiated this study to see if healthcare professionals “practice what they preach others.”Methods. We employed a cross-sectional study design with convenience-sampling technique. Questionnaires were administered directly to the three groups of healthcare professionals (Doctors, Dentists and Nurses) across the province Punjab after their consent. 1,319 healthcare professionals took part in the study (response rate of 87.35). Warwick Edinburg Mental Wellbeing Scale (WEMWBS) was used to assess mental wellbeing. USDA Dietary Guidelines-2010 were employed to quantify diet. American Heart Association (AHA) guidelines were employed for the analysis of exercise.Results. A total of 1,190 healthcare professionals formed the final sample with doctors and nurses forming the major proportion. Out of 1,190 participants only one healthcare professional was found to eat according to USDA Dietary Guidelines; others ate more of protein group and less of fruits, dairy and vegetable groups. 76% did not perform any exercise. 71.5% worked >48 h/week. More than 50% of healthcare professionals were sleeping <7 h/day. WEMWBS score of the entire sample was 47.97 ± 9.53 S.D.Conclusion. Our findings suggest that healthcare professionals do not practice what they preach. Their mental wellbeing, diet and exercise habits are not up to the mark and should be improved to foster the whole healthcare system for individual and community benefits. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T06:40:28Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-acc3a35e1d11490388dafab6ed4d8153 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2167-8359 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T06:40:28Z |
| publishDate | 2015-09-01 |
| publisher | PeerJ Inc. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | PeerJ |
| spelling | doaj.art-acc3a35e1d11490388dafab6ed4d81532023-12-03T10:52:33ZengPeerJ Inc.PeerJ2167-83592015-09-013e125010.7717/peerj.1250Diet, exercise and mental-wellbeing of healthcare professionals (doctors, dentists and nurses) in PakistanWaqas Ahmad0Frances Taggart1Muhammad Shoaib Shafique2Yumna Muzafar3Shehnam Abidi4Noor Ghani5Zahra Malik6Tehmina Zahid7Ahmed Waqas8Naila Ghaffar9CMH Lahore Medical College and Institute of Dentistry, Lahore Cantt, PakistanStatistics and Epidemiology Unit, Division of Health Sciences, University of Warwick Medical School, Coventry, UKCMH Lahore Medical College and Institute of Dentistry, Lahore Cantt, PakistanCMH Lahore Medical College and Institute of Dentistry, Lahore Cantt, PakistanCMH Lahore Medical College and Institute of Dentistry, Lahore Cantt, PakistanCMH Lahore Medical College and Institute of Dentistry, Lahore Cantt, PakistanCMH Lahore Medical College and Institute of Dentistry, Lahore Cantt, PakistanCMH Lahore Medical College and Institute of Dentistry, Lahore Cantt, PakistanCMH Lahore Medical College and Institute of Dentistry, Lahore Cantt, PakistanCMH Lahore Medical College and Institute of Dentistry, Lahore Cantt, PakistanBackground. “Health is wealth” is a time tested adage. Health becomes more relevant when it comes to professionals whose job is to provide people with services that maintain an optimum state of mental, physical and social well-being. Healthcare professionals (HCP) differ from general population in regards to the nature of their work, stress, burnout etc. which begs the need to have a robust state of health for the ones who provide it to others. We initiated this study to see if healthcare professionals “practice what they preach others.”Methods. We employed a cross-sectional study design with convenience-sampling technique. Questionnaires were administered directly to the three groups of healthcare professionals (Doctors, Dentists and Nurses) across the province Punjab after their consent. 1,319 healthcare professionals took part in the study (response rate of 87.35). Warwick Edinburg Mental Wellbeing Scale (WEMWBS) was used to assess mental wellbeing. USDA Dietary Guidelines-2010 were employed to quantify diet. American Heart Association (AHA) guidelines were employed for the analysis of exercise.Results. A total of 1,190 healthcare professionals formed the final sample with doctors and nurses forming the major proportion. Out of 1,190 participants only one healthcare professional was found to eat according to USDA Dietary Guidelines; others ate more of protein group and less of fruits, dairy and vegetable groups. 76% did not perform any exercise. 71.5% worked >48 h/week. More than 50% of healthcare professionals were sleeping <7 h/day. WEMWBS score of the entire sample was 47.97 ± 9.53 S.D.Conclusion. Our findings suggest that healthcare professionals do not practice what they preach. Their mental wellbeing, diet and exercise habits are not up to the mark and should be improved to foster the whole healthcare system for individual and community benefits.https://peerj.com/articles/1250.pdfDietExerciseWEMWBSHealthcare professionalsPakistanDoctor |
| spellingShingle | Waqas Ahmad Frances Taggart Muhammad Shoaib Shafique Yumna Muzafar Shehnam Abidi Noor Ghani Zahra Malik Tehmina Zahid Ahmed Waqas Naila Ghaffar Diet, exercise and mental-wellbeing of healthcare professionals (doctors, dentists and nurses) in Pakistan PeerJ Diet Exercise WEMWBS Healthcare professionals Pakistan Doctor |
| title | Diet, exercise and mental-wellbeing of healthcare professionals (doctors, dentists and nurses) in Pakistan |
| title_full | Diet, exercise and mental-wellbeing of healthcare professionals (doctors, dentists and nurses) in Pakistan |
| title_fullStr | Diet, exercise and mental-wellbeing of healthcare professionals (doctors, dentists and nurses) in Pakistan |
| title_full_unstemmed | Diet, exercise and mental-wellbeing of healthcare professionals (doctors, dentists and nurses) in Pakistan |
| title_short | Diet, exercise and mental-wellbeing of healthcare professionals (doctors, dentists and nurses) in Pakistan |
| title_sort | diet exercise and mental wellbeing of healthcare professionals doctors dentists and nurses in pakistan |
| topic | Diet Exercise WEMWBS Healthcare professionals Pakistan Doctor |
| url | https://peerj.com/articles/1250.pdf |
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