Adherence to Healthy Lifestyles: A Comparison of Occupational Therapy Students with Nursing and Physiotherapy Students

Abstract

Kamwendo K. Adherence to healthy lifestyles: a comparison of occupational therapy students with nursing and physiotherapy students. Scand J Occup Ther 2000; 7: 156 ± 164.Occupational therapists as well as nurses and physiotherapists are experiencing a growing emphasis on patient education. It is a challenge for health science educational institutions to prepare students for a role as health educators as well as motivate them towards healthy lifestyles of their own. In the present study ® rst-term occupational students with nursing and physiotherapy students were compared on a number of lifestyle and health indicators as well as musculoskeletal problems. A questionnaire was answered by female occupational therapy (n¾ 61), nursing (n ¾ 97) and physiotherapy students (n¾ 67) at three different universities in Sweden. The results showed that occupational therapy students were more physically active and smoked less compared with nursing students, although the differences were not signi® cant. Occupational therapy students were signi® cantly less active than physiotherapy students. All three groups reported a prevalence of high back pain. In addition, a signi® cantly higher frequency of neck pain within the last year was noted for occupational therapy students than for nursing and physiotherapy students. In order to help students to adhere to healthy lifestyles and strengthen their ef® cacy as health educators, educational institutions need to pay attention to students' lifestyles.

Prevalence and Correlates of Low Back Pain among Occupational Therapy Students in Northern Queensland

“…The relatively high prevalence of LBP amongst first-year occupational therapy students in this study is cause for concern. Similar to the findings of Kamwendo (2000), our results suggest that occupational therapy students may bring a certain level of LBP problems with them, rather than primarily acquiring them through professional exposure. Nevertheless, our study does suggest that the prevalence of LBP probably increases through the latter years of the occupational therapy course.…”

Categorization and determinants of physical activity among nursing students

“…One study reports that physiotherapy students are more physically active, smoke less, and eat fewer sweets and unhealthy snacks compared to nursing students, while others show no difference. [14,15] In addition to describing physical activity in the nursing student population, research on determinants of physical activity is necessary to design appropriate and targeted interventions. Research findings on determinants associated with greater physical activity in adults include age (inverse), higher levels of education, gender (male), and ethnicity (white).…”

Is that really my movement?—Students' experiences of a video-supported interactive learning model for movement awareness

“…The everyday work situation for nurses includes a number of demanding tasks, such as manual handling activities, that is, patient transfers; work in challenging body positions; and computer work. MSS appear to begin during nursing education, and the prevalence of MSS during the previous 12 months has been shown to be 50–80% among nursing students (Backåberg, Rask, Brunt, & Gummesson, 2014 ; Kamwendo, 2000 ; Mitchell, O'Sullivan, Burnett, Straker, & Rudd, 2008 ; Smith & Leggat, 2004 ). A recent longitudinal study shows that neck/shoulder and back pain during nursing students’ final term remained constant for 2 years after finishing school, and one of the factors associated with the prevalence of symptoms was different types of physical load (Lövgren, Gustavsson, Melin, & Rudman, 2014 ).…”