Medical and sociological study of the readiness of young students to form a healthy lifestyle and identification of factors influencing motivational mechanisms

The objective: to determine the readiness of students to lead a healthy lifestyle (HL), to analyze the motivational mechanisms of forming a HL in students, as well as the factors influencing them.Materials and methods. A sociological study was conducted by surveying 446 students of different courses and faculties, including 217 students of medical faculties, 105 students of stomatological faculties and 124 students of non-medical facul-ties. The questionnaire included questions related to demographic indicators, the place of personal health in the hierarchy of values, motivational mechanisms and sources of information on the formation of a HL. Data processing was carried out using Microsoft Excel, StatSoft Statistica and SPSS programs.Results. The study examined the relationship between social, demographic indicators and factors of readiness of students to lead a HL, in particular, according to the health rating in the hierarchy of life values. A mathematical analysis of the relation-ships and the degree of influence on the ranking place of health in the value system of respondents was conducted. The relation-ship between the specified indicators and the personal assessment of the place of health in the value hierarchy was analyzed by determining the parameters that reflect the subjective assessment of the place of health in this hierarchy. The analysis of the relationship between the parameters was carried out taking into account the faculty of study. The relationship and the degree of influence of individual factors and their combinations on increasing the health rating in the value hierarchy of respondents was determined. Thus, the most significant motivational factors influencing the formation of a HL were identified. Conclusions. A higher tendency to prioritize one’s health was observed among respondents from non-medical faculties, in whom this indicator was significantly higher by almost 3.9 times compared to respondents from medical faculties (p < 0.001). Among the reasons that reduce the value of health, the reluctance to get rid of bad habits, the presence of serious chronic diseases, lack of financial conditions, as well as failure of family members and friends to adhere to the rules of a HL was revealed. Respondents identified the advice of family members and educational programs as the priority source of information about a HL.