Impact of 5k run race conducted during health-care events on level of physical activity and motivation among health-care professionals in Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Background: One of the strategic plans of Saudi Arabia's vision for 2030 is the quality-of-life program which calls for increasing the number of people undertaking regular physical activity (PA) from 13% to 40%. The Ministry of Sports and the Saudi Sports for all Federation are key organizations toward achieving the target. Motivation is pivotal to initiating and maintaining PA. Thus, the Saudi Society of Emergency Medicine (SASEM) organized a 5k run race during their annual international scientific conference in February 2022, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, to motivate PA among health-care workers (HCWs). Purpose: We aim to assess the effect of running a 5k race that was organized in association with a health-care event on the level of PA and motivation among participants. Methodology: We conducted a cross-sectional descriptive study. The data were collected through a valid and reliable tool, the Physical Activity and Leisure Motivation Scale (PALMS) questionnaire. It was distributed as an electronic survey through E-mail and messaging platform (WhatsApp) to all participants in the SASEM 5k run race. We collected sociodemographic data, PA levels of participants before and after the SASEM 5k run race, as well as the PALMS. PALMS is a valid and reliable assessment tool for PA motives, consisting of 40 items, with eight subscales: competition/ego, appearance, others' expectations, affiliation, physical condition, psychological condition, mastery, and enjoyment. All participants provided electronic consent, and participation in the study was voluntary and uncompensated. Data were analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences SPSS application. Results: One hundred and twenty-nine individuals participated in the survey (response rate: 38.5%). The final analysis included responses from HCWs only, which represented 68.2% of all responses (88). HCWs were divided into the following: physicians (55.7%), nurses (19.3%), emergency medical technicians (EMTs) (3.4%), other specialties (13.6%), and those retired from the medical field (8%). Participants working in emergency departments contributed 61.4% of the 88 responses. In the context of PA level in relation to (SASEM 5k), 59% increased their PA to be >10,000 steps, and 34% to be >300 min per week, in contrast to the time before the race (50% and 21%, respectively). Physical (90%) and psychological (79.6%) conditions were the most contributing factors to motivate PA. The EMTs (100%) and nurses (82.4%) were motivated by competition/ego. The appearance was not an important motivator for PA among the participants (86.4%). Physical and psychological conditions, others' expectations, and competition/ego were the motivators for emergency medicine (90.7%, 79.6%, 88.9%, and 63%, respectively). Conclusion: SASEM 5k run race successfully contributed to influencing the PA level. This might reflect the impact of a run race in conjunction with health-care events. We recommend organizing running races more frequently around various events to encourage people to maintain and increase PA throughout the year.