GENERAL HEALTH AND PHYSICAL ACTIVITY LEVELS OF HEALTHCARE EMPLOYEES AND AFFECTING FACTORS

Abstract

Aim: This study was conducted to investigate general health and physical activity levels of healthcare professional and factors affecting them and to find the correlation between general health and physical activity. Methods: This descriptive and correlation-seeking study was carried out with 432 healthcare ofessionals of an Education and Research Hospital located in Istanbul between February-May 2017. Data, including a 27-item questionnaire related personal characteristics, General Health Questionnaire-28 and International Physical Activity Questionnaire, were collected with a short form. Data was analyzed using descriptive statistics, Variance analysis (ANOVA), t-test, Kruskal Wallis Variance analysis, Mann-Whitney U test, Pearson Correlation analysis, Logistic Regression analysis and post-hoc Games Howell test. Results: 41.2% of employees, whose scores are equal and/or higher than 5,were under mental health risk. 51.6% of employees were physically inactive, 41.4% of them did o medium and 6.9% of those made high physical activities. A negative relation (r= -0.208, p=0.000) was found between General Health Questionnaire and International Physical Activity Questionnaire scores. Conclusion: It was observed that more than half (61.8%) of the individuals in the risk group in terms of mental health, were physically inactive.

Keywords

• physical activity
• occupational health nursing
• mental health
• healthcare workers