Physical activity habits among members of the Athens Medical Society in Greece

Abstract Introduction Benefits of regular physical activity and exercise are well documented. Healthcare workers play a crucial role in counseling and appropriately referring their patients to adopt physical activity. However, doctors’ exercise habits range between different medical specialties and health service infrastructure. Purpose In this study, we assess physicians’ exercise performance according to the recommendations of 2020 ESC Guidelines. Methods The population of this cross-sectional study comprised 742 physicians of the Athens Medical Society (AMS), Greece. The study instrument was a self-administered questionnaire mailed in October 2023 to investigate physicians’ exercise habits, baseline characteristics of population, specialty, and health service infrastructure [Greek National Healthcare System (GNHS) or Private Practice (PP)]. European Society of Cardiology (ESC) Guidelines recommend at least 150 min/week of moderate-intensity exercise in all healthy adults. Subjects were divided in two groups according to their compliance to ESC Guidelines: 1. Moderate-intensity endurance exercise training per week ≥ 150 min (Group A); 2. Moderate-intensity endurance exercise training per week <150 min (Group B). Results The recommended exercise training per week goal is achieved by the majority of AMS members (53.4%) with an estimated mean exercise endurance training time of 240 ± 285 minutes. Between Group A and Group B there was no difference in age (50±12years vs. 50±13years, p=0.73), whereas there was significant difference in male sex prevalence (58% vs. 43%, p <0.001), in Body Mass Index (24.7 ± 3.8 kg/m2 vs. 26.2 ± 4.7 kg/m2, p <0.001), in Smoking habits (17.4% vs. 23.5%, p=0.04), in diabetes mellitus incidence (6.6% vs. 11.8%, p= 0.01) and in the use of activity monitoring wearables (45.2% vs. 29.8%, p<0.001). Interestingly, there was significant difference between GNHS and PP doctors representation in Group A and B with more doctors in the PP categorized in the Group A (p=0.008) (Figure 1). Importantly, logistic regression analysis revealed that even after adjustment for the aforementioned confounders there was significant under-representation of the GNHS in the Group A or otherwise doctors in the GNHS have 33% decrease odds of achieving the recommended exercise training per week (Odds Ratio: 0.676, 95%CI 0.484, 0.943, p=0.02) (Table 1). Conclusion A significant proportion of the AMS members follows the recommended ESC guidelines for minimum exercise training per week. Several factors affect their adherence to exercise time recommendation. Interestingly, AMS doctors working on the GNHS independently of other factors are less adherent to exercise recommendations. These findings emphasize the need to strengthen prevention strategies to AMS.