Association between regular physical activity and quality of life in medicine students in a private educational institution

Abstract

The quality of life (QoL) covers several dimensions in the individual's life. When it comes to the QoL of medical students, many studies retract that it´s low QoL, but few studies in the literature approach ways to improve it. Physical exercise is pointed out, with strong evidence, as beneficial to the mental and physical health of individuals, so it is important to analyze if there’s a possible association between regular physical activity and QoL among these students. Methodology: An online questionnaire was applied using Microsoft Forms, 362 medical students from the Bahiana School of Medicine and Public Health (EBMSP) were included; to evaluate the QoL, was used the abbreviated Quality of Life Questionnaire of World Health Organization (WHOQOL-BREF) and were included questions about physical exercise in order to analyze the time spent with this practice weekly. Results:  Among the research participants, 231 (63,9%) reported regular physical activity and that the time spent was greater among participants in the clinical cycle. The research showed a statistically significant association between the practice of physical activity and better QoL in all domains of the WHOQOL-BREF (p<0.05), especially in the psychological (p<0.001). Conclusion: We found a positive association between the regular practice of physical activity in leisure time and all domains of QoL, regardless of the physical activity time, gender, age, or period of the course. These findings highlight the importance of promoting academic polices to encourage the regular practice of physical activity by medical schools.                                                                                                                                                     Keywords: Physical activity; Quality of life; Medical students; Cross-sectional study.