High Levels of Physical Inactivity Amongst Dental Professionals: A Questionnaire Based Cross Sectional Study

Abstract

Introduction: A Dentist plays an important role in providing health education (General and Oral) to the community. Questions arise regarding their own health, which in turn affects their patients’ counselling for leading a healthy and a physically active life. Aim: To measure and compare the amount of physical activity present amongst dental professionals with the general population of Greater Noida. Materials and Methods: The International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ) was used to measure physical activity and statistical significance was calculated using SPSS version 21.0. Statistical significance was kept as p <.05. Results: Compared to the general population, Dentists were more obese and reported increased levels of low physical activity. Dentists had an increased and significant transportation and leisure time activity (p= .03 and .01) whereas, the general population had a higher level of vigorous activity(p = <.01). The MET hour/week for dentists and general population was 33.72 and 36.24 respectively, which was quite low as compared to European population. Conclusion: The results indicate that dentists report a lower level of physical activity as compared to the general population of Greater Noida. However, on a global scale, the physical inactiveness of dentists and general population alike could pose a serious health hazard and if kept unchecked, shall increase the global burden of chronic disease.

Keywords

• dentists
• ipaq
• obesity
• physical activity