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- Title
Exercise Prescription by South African Doctors Part 1: Knowledge, Practice and Attitudes Among South African Doctors4.
- Authors
Schoeman, Marlene; Holtzhausen, Louis; Joubert, Gina
- Abstract
Introduction: Physical inactivity is the fourth leading cause of death worldwide. South Africans have low physical activity (PA) levels which increase the morbidity and mortality associated with various chronic diseases. General Practitioners (GPs) play a key role in motivating a large proportion of the sedentary population to become physically active. Very little is known about the exercise prescription practices of South African GPs. This study aimed to determine the practices, attitudes toward and knowledge on exercise prescription among GPs in SA and identify possible barriers why they do not prescribe exercise. Methods: A self-administered, anonymous electronic questionnaire was circulated to a database of GPs via email on three separate occasions, two weeks apart and was completed by a total of 349 GPs. Exercise prescription practices, attitudes towards exercise prescription and the importance thereof as preventative modality for chronic diseases were assessed. Knowledge on benefits, risk factors, contraindications and compilations of exercise prescriptions were also assessed. Results: Substantially higher prescription rates were reported compared to international literature. A minority (18.0%) of the participants felt that exercise prescription will be too time consuming, while almost half (46.0%) of the non-prescribing doctors reported a lack of confidence in their knowledge to be able to prescribe exercise. Approximately 98% of the GPs believed that it should be part of their practice to prescribe exercise to their patients, despite the fact that their knowledge regarding recommendations for physical activity and the formulation of an exercise prescription was poor. Conclusion: Although GPs reported a high prevalence of exercise prescription, insufficient knowledge about exercise prescription and appropriate lifestyle modifications were noticed. Barriers to exercise prescription differ from international literature and should be investigated further. A lack in confidence and knowledge to enable safe and effective exercise prescription highlights a need to rethink the undergraduate medical curricula.
- Subjects
SEDENTARY behavior -- Risk factors; EXERCISE &; psychology; GENERAL practitioners
- Publication
South African Journal of Sports Medicine, 2015, Vol 27, p34
- ISSN
1015-5163
- Publication type
Article