Perception of healthy lifestyle among students of medical schools

Abstract

Introduction/Aim: The aim of the present study was to evaluate ideas and motivational attitudes of medical school students towards a healthy lifestyle and its components. Methods: The study was conducted from March until August 2017, at the Department of Medical Sociology, Healthcare Economics and Health Insurance and at N.A. Semashko Public Health and Healthcare Department, I.M. Sechenov First Moscow State Medical University. We ran a medical and sociological survey in 984 randomly selected students from eight Russian medical universities. Results: The article presents the results of the medical and sociological study aimed at assessing the ideas and motivational attitudes of medical students towards healthy lifestyle and its elements. Our research showed that students of medical schools, while recognizing the importance of preserving their own health, are still largely committed to an unhealthy lifestyle, secondly, they refuse sports activities even more often, and, thirdly, they prove not to be active enough when it comes to disease prevention and health preservation. Conclusion: Taking into consideration the obtained results, healthy lifestyle among students of medical schools is an exception rather than common practice.