Personal physical activity and physical activity counseling habits among primary care physicians of Prince Sultan Military Medical City, Riyadh city, Saudi Arabia, 2018

Objective: Physical activity (PA) practice is effective in the primary and secondary prevention of many chronic diseases. Primary care physicians are well placed to be a role model and to promote their patients regarding PA practice. Therefore, the objective of this study was to prove the positive relationship between being physically active physician and providing a proper counseling about PA practice. Methodology: This was a cross-sectional study targeting primary care physicians of Prince Sultan Military Medical City (PSMMC), Riyadh city, Saudi Arabia, 2018. The researcher designed a self-administered questionnaire for data collection from the target population, undertaken validation process, and it was then analyzed using SPSS software. Results: A total of 214 primary care physicians participated in our study. 56.5% were male, and 43.5% were female. The prevalence of physically active physicians who practice PA as recommended by most of PA recommendations (Canadian Society for Exercise Physiology, American Heart Association, American Diabetes Association, American College of Sports Medicine, etc.) was 37.9%, while 62.1% were physically inactive. The prevalence of physicians who recommend PA according to these recommendations was 78%. Significant association was found between physician's PA practice and providing effective PA counseling (P = 0.008) and showing confidence to counsel all patients about PA as a part of preventive care provided by primary care physicians (P = 0.038). 72.9% of the participants reported that lack of time is the major barrier to counseling patients about PA. Conclusion: The prevalence of physically active primary care physicians was 37.9%. 78% of them practice an effective PA according to the current recommendations. Significant association was found between physician's PA practice and providing an effective PA counseling (P = 0.008) and showing confidence to counsel all patients about PA as a part of preventive care provided by them (P = 0.038). Lack of time was the major barrier to counsel patients about PA.