Physical activity in psychiatry: Current state and challenges:An online survey on sports psychiatry in health professionals

Abstract

Introduction: Physical activity (PA) shows beneficial effects for various mental illnesses, but exercise-prescription has not yet become routine practice in psychiatry. Therefore, this survey addresses attitudes and barriers towards exercise-prescription in health professionals. Methods: We conducted an anonymous online survey among health professionals on the importance of PA in prevention and treatment of mental illness and perceived barriers as part of a larger survey on sports psychiatry. The survey was promoted by societies for sports psychiatry. Results: N = 310 health professionals from Switzerland (86.5%) and other countries responded to the online survey. Sixty percent were physicians (51.1% psychiatrists). Most respondents strongly agreed that PA plays an important role in prevention and treatment of mental (80.2%, 69.8%) and physical (84.5%, 72.0%) illness. Forty-six percent use PA in prevention and 59.4% in treatment of mental illness with lower proportions for physical illness (39.5%, 36.2%). Most mentioned barriers to the use of PA were "insufficient possibilities"in psychiatric institutions (34.8%) and "no reimbursement"(41.9%) in private practice. Participants working in private practice rated barriers in practice significantly higher than those from other workplaces. "No motivation"was found to be the most common barrier for patients (56.5%). PA was used most often for depression (39.5%) followed by substance use disorders (32.1%) and anxiety disorders (30.9%). Conclusions: Health professionals in Switzerland and some extent other European countries show a positive attitude towards the use of PA in mental illness. Current barriers, especially reimbursement in private practice should be addressed to improve prescription-rates of PA.