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| ORIGINAL ARTICLE |
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| Year : 2022 | Volume
: 22
| Issue : 3 | Page : 100-106 |
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Impact of 5k run race conducted during health-care events on level of physical activity and motivation among health-care professionals in Saudi Arabia
Abdulrahman Y Sabbagh1, Tala Abedalqader2, Abdullah Alzahrani3, Abdulaziz Alzhrani4, Wedad Alzahrani5, Lama Bin Orayir6, Jameel T Abualenain7, Abdulrahman Alzahrani6
1 Adult Emergency Department, King Fahad Medical City, Second Health Cluster; College of Medicine, Alfaisal University, Riyadh; Sport for All Federation, Ministry of Sport, Saudi Arabia
2 College of Medicine, Alfaisal University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
3 College of Medicine, Taif University, Taif, Saudi Arabia
4 Department of Physiotherapy, College of Applied Medical Sciences, Taif University, Taif, Saudi Arabia
5 Translation Master's Student, Department of Foreign Language, College of Arts, Taif University, Taif, Saudi Arabia
6 Adult Emergency Department, King Fahad Medical City, Second Health Cluster, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
7 Department of Emergency Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
| Date of Submission | 05-Dec-2022 |
| Date of Decision | 18-Dec-2022 |
| Date of Acceptance | 21-Dec-2022 |
| Date of Web Publication | 15-May-2023 |
Correspondence Address:
Abdullah Alzahrani
Adult Emergency Department, King Fahad Medical City, Second Health Cluster, Riyadh
Saudi Arabia
 Source of Support: None, Conflict of Interest: None  | Check |
DOI: 10.4103/sjsm.sjsm_28_22
Background: One of the strategic plans of Saudi Arabia's vision for 2030 is the quality-of-life program which calls for increasing the number of people undertaking regular physical activity (PA) from 13% to 40%. The Ministry of Sports and the Saudi Sports for all Federation are key organizations toward achieving the target. Motivation is pivotal to initiating and maintaining PA. Thus, the Saudi Society of Emergency Medicine (SASEM) organized a 5k run race during their annual international scientific conference in February 2022, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, to motivate PA among health-care workers (HCWs).
Purpose: We aim to assess the effect of running a 5k race that was organized in association with a health-care event on the level of PA and motivation among participants.
Methodology: We conducted a cross-sectional descriptive study. The data were collected through a valid and reliable tool, the Physical Activity and Leisure Motivation Scale (PALMS) questionnaire. It was distributed as an electronic survey through E-mail and messaging platform (WhatsApp) to all participants in the SASEM 5k run race. We collected sociodemographic data, PA levels of participants before and after the SASEM 5k run race, as well as the PALMS. PALMS is a valid and reliable assessment tool for PA motives, consisting of 40 items, with eight subscales: competition/ego, appearance, others' expectations, affiliation, physical condition, psychological condition, mastery, and enjoyment. All participants provided electronic consent, and participation in the study was voluntary and uncompensated. Data were analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences SPSS application.
Results: One hundred and twenty-nine individuals participated in the survey (response rate: 38.5%). The final analysis included responses from HCWs only, which represented 68.2% of all responses (88). HCWs were divided into the following: physicians (55.7%), nurses (19.3%), emergency medical technicians (EMTs) (3.4%), other specialties (13.6%), and those retired from the medical field (8%). Participants working in emergency departments contributed 61.4% of the 88 responses. In the context of PA level in relation to (SASEM 5k), 59% increased their PA to be >10,000 steps, and 34% to be >300 min per week, in contrast to the time before the race (50% and 21%, respectively). Physical (90%) and psychological (79.6%) conditions were the most contributing factors to motivate PA. The EMTs (100%) and nurses (82.4%) were motivated by competition/ego. The appearance was not an important motivator for PA among the participants (86.4%). Physical and psychological conditions, others' expectations, and competition/ego were the motivators for emergency medicine (90.7%, 79.6%, 88.9%, and 63%, respectively).
Conclusion: SASEM 5k run race successfully contributed to influencing the PA level. This might reflect the impact of a run race in conjunction with health-care events. We recommend organizing running races more frequently around various events to encourage people to maintain and increase PA throughout the year.
Keywords: Emergency, health-care professionals, motivation, physical activity
How to cite this article:
Sabbagh AY, Abedalqader T, Alzahrani A, Alzhrani A, Alzahrani W, Orayir LB, Abualenain JT, Alzahrani A. Impact of 5k run race conducted during health-care events on level of physical activity and motivation among health-care professionals in Saudi Arabia. Saudi J Sports Med 2022;22:100-6 |
How to cite this URL:
Sabbagh AY, Abedalqader T, Alzahrani A, Alzhrani A, Alzahrani W, Orayir LB, Abualenain JT, Alzahrani A. Impact of 5k run race conducted during health-care events on level of physical activity and motivation among health-care professionals in Saudi Arabia. Saudi J Sports Med [serial online] 2022 [cited 2023 Jun 5];22:100-6. Available from: https://www.sjosm.org/text.asp?2022/22/3/100/377104 |
| Introduction | |  |
The benefits of physical activity (PA) for maintaining health and preventing diseases are widely known.[1],[2],[3] Conversely, sedentary behavior and lack of PA are linked to several detrimental health outcomes, including increased body weight, obesity, impaired cardiorespiratory and musculoskeletal function, poor metabolic health, insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes, and impaired cognitive functions.[1],[4],[5] Physical inactivity is known to significantly increase the risk of noncommunicable illnesses in high-income nations and is increasingly doing so in low- and middle-income countries.[1],[6] In fact, it is estimated that just physical inactivity accounts for 9% of global premature mortality or more than 5.3 million deaths each year.[1] Physical inactivity represents a significant global economic burden, amounting to US$53.8 billion in 2013 in addition to sickness and early mortality.[7] This prompted the World Health Organization (WHO) to set a 2030 objective of a 15% relative decrease in the prevalence of physical inactivity among adults and adolescents worldwide.[3] The new PA Strategy for the WHO European Region (2016–2025) aims to implement policies at every administrative level.[8]
Health-care workers (HCWs) are both physically and emotionally taxed in their daily life, and they face additional challenges to being physically active due to their varying weekly shifts, demanding jobs, and social aspects. Health-care professionals are not only at significant risk of burnout due to inadequate exercise and unhealthy eating habits but also because they abuse alcohol and engage in other risky behaviors.[9],[10]
The Saudi Society of Emergency Medicine (SASEM) held a 5k run race (SASEM 5k) on February 12, 2022, in conjunction with the annual conference of the society to motivate PA among health-care providers. Health-care events are one of the most important opportunities that can be used to promote PA. There are no prior studies about the effect of PA combined with health-care events on the motivation to PA. This study aimed to determine the effect of running a race as a PA initiative combined with a health-care event on the motivation to promote PA among the population.
| Methodology | | |
We conducted a cross-sectional, descriptive study. An electronic survey [Appendix 1] was used to collect data from those who took part in the SASEM 5k in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in February 2022. It was sent through E-mail and WhatsApp to all participants (129) in the SASEM 5k race. The survey included sociodemographic data of the participants, PA levels of participants by recalling before and after SASEM 5k, and the validated PA and Leisure Motivation Scale (PALMS), adopted from a study conducted by Molanorouzi et al.[11] The level of PA was determined by comparing the step count and PA duration before and after the SASEM 5k run race. A vigorous level of PA was defined as more than 300 minutes of PA and 10,000 steps per week.
PALMS is a valid and reliable assessment tool for PA motives. Cronbach's alpha coefficient (a=0.79) showed that the total measure had acceptable internal consistency.[11] It consists of 40 items, with eight subscales: competition/ego, appearance, others' expectations, affiliation, physical condition, psychological condition, mastery, and enjoyment. Participation in the study was voluntary and without compensation, and all participants submitted electronic consent before completing the questionnaire.
Responses from HCWs, which made up 68.2% of all responses received (88), were used in the final analysis. Using Microsoft Excel®, version 2210, the data were entered and coded. The Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) application, Version 21.0. Armonk, New York: IBM Corporation, was then used to analyze it. Descriptive statistics and the Student's t-test for group comparison between the level of PA before and after the SASEM 5k run race were used in the data analysis. When P = 0.05, a statistically significant result is recognized.
| Results | | |
One hundred and twenty-nine subjects participated in the survey (response rate: 38.5%). Eighty-eight were medical professionals, categorized as physicians (55.7%), nurses (19.3%), emergency medical technicians (EMTs) (3.4%), allied health professionals (13.6%), and those retired from the medical field (8%). Of all participants, 61.4% work in emergency medicine fields. [Table 1] shows the sociodemographic data of the participants.
In the context of PA level in relation to (SASEM 5k), 59% of participants increased their PA to >10,000 steps, and 34% to >300 min per week, in contrast to their PA level before the race (50% and 21%, respectively). [Figure 1] shows the comparison between the level of PA before and after the SASEM 5k run race. | Figure 1: The comparison between the level of physical activity before and after the SASEM 5k run race. PA: Physical activity, SASEM 5k: Run race held by the Saudi Society of Emergency Medicine
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Physical (90%) and psychological (79.6%) conditions were the most contributing factors to motivate PA. The association of competition/ego with job base was statistically significant (P = 0.019), where the EMTs (100%) and nurses (82.4%) were motivated by competition/ego. The appearance was not an important motivator for PA among the participants (86.4%). Physical and psychological conditions (90.7%), others' expectations (79.6%), and competition/ego (63%) were the top motivators for emergency medicine workers.
| Discussion | | |
PA among health-care professionals has been documented in the literature as compromised.[12] It is supported by the results of our study, which showed lower PA levels and duration among HCWs before the SASEM 5k despite believing PA to be a crucial aspect of a healthy lifestyle. George et al. found that the fitness was mainly physical for nurses, while, for physicians, it included not only PA but also emotional and spiritual well-being.[12] This has been supported by research that demonstrates how exercise boosts mood and self-esteem while lowering stress and anxiety.[13]
In this study, we found that the SASEM 5k race had a positive impact on the motivation to increase PA among participants working in health care. Most of the participants' PA improved and increased after the SASEM 5k. These results are supported by several studies that concluded that the key motivators for encouraging health-care professionals to maintain PA were their patients, friends, family, or themselves.[12],[14] Most of the SASEM 5k participants were colleagues, friends, and families of health-care professionals. This result guides us toward the significant effect of running races that are associated with health-care events, as it is considered a motivational opportunity.
We found that physical and psychological conditions, others' expectations, and competition/ego were the motivation factors for PA among health-care providers, especially those working in emergency medicine. All these motivators are available in the run races that are associated with health-care events. A study conducted by George et al. showed that many of the younger female health-care professionals were motivated by their peers or by their determination.[12] One of the main motivators was discovered to be one's perceptions of one's body and comparing oneself to others in this regard. The motivation and change in the PA behavior among the participants reflect the importance of PA and its priorities in their life. In contrast, the study that identified one of PA's challenges as the fact that medical professionals believed their own health comes last. They put the demands of their families and their patient's health ahead of their own. Some people even overestimated their ability to solve their health problems using their medical knowledge. Health-care professionals are gaining weight at a pace similar to the general population, according to studies conducted in various parts of the world.[12],[15]
In terms of PA enhancement, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has experienced significant economic growth in recent decades along with modernization, lifestyle changes, swift population shifts, and substantial urbanization. This has had a significant negative impact on people's lifestyle choices, with Saudi culture showing a rise in sedentary and physically inactive behaviors.[16],[17],[18] Such unhealthy lifestyles significantly contributed to the country's increase in lifestyle-related chronic noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) such as obesity, diabetes mellitus, coronary artery diseases, and hypertension.[19],[20],[21] However, a sizable portion of the Saudi population continues to be largely inactive despite a significant and compelling body of research supporting the significance of PA in reducing NCDs.[22] According to the Saudi General Authority for Statistics, the prevalence of PA among the population (150 min or more of exercise per week) was 85%; 56% of them were Saudi.[23]
Recent initiatives from the Saudi Arabian Ministry of Health and the Saudi Vision 2030 recognized these difficulties and emphasized the value of a healthy lifestyle in enhancing the well-being and prosperity of all Saudi demographic segments. Saudi Arabia's vision for 2030 has three dimensions: a vibrant society, a prosperous economy, and an ambitious nation. The quality-of-life program calls for increasing the number of people undertaking regular PA at least once a week from 13% to 40% by the end of 2030.[24],[25] The Ministry of Sports and the Saudi Sports for all Federation are key organizations toward achieving the target.
Limitations
This study has several limitations. The use of a volunteer online panel poll could lead to biased sample selection. However, earlier studies demonstrated overall parity between panel techniques and random-digit dialing.[26],[27] Our study did not include the lists of places for PA and justifications for reduced PA. The study did not evaluate other medical events; thus, we may get an inadequate picture of the PA among medical professionals. The study still offers data, nevertheless, that professionals and practitioners can use.
| Conclusion and Recommendations | | |
SASEM 5k run race successfully contributed to influencing PA level. This might reflect the impact of a run race in conjunction with health-care events. We recommend organizing running races more frequently around various events to encourage people to maintain and increase PA throughout the year.
Financial support and sponsorship
Nil.
Conflicts of interest
There are no conflicts of interest.
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[Figure 1]
[Table 1]
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