PREVALENCE AND CORRELATES OF PHYSICAL ACTIVITY AMONG PUBLIC HEALTHCARE WORKERS IN HUNGARY

Abstract

Background. Due to unfavorable working conditions, health professionals often suffer several psychosomatic and somatic symptoms. Although these symptoms could be relieved by physical activity, their lifestyles are often inadequate. We assessed the physical activity levels of workers in the Hungarian healthcare system through the lens of occupational health. Material and methods. We surveyed the physical activity levels of 285 healthcare workers using the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ – Long Form). SPSS 24.0 was used to perform statistical analysis. Results. According to their overall MET/minute/week values, participants were divided into 3 groups based on physical activity levels: insufficient, sufficient, and high physical activity. The most populated activity category was the high physical activity category with a result of 90.68%. Occupational activity accounted for one-third (32.01%) of total activity scores while leisure time activity accounted for 11.52% of total activity. Correlation analysis was carried out focused on Body Mass Index (BMI), age, and physical activity (PA). Only leisure time activity showed a significant correlation (p<0.05). Conclusions. Our research acknowledges that physical activity during working hours with respect to the target group does not contribute to physical activity in leisure time.