Benchmarking the health of health sciences students at Kuwait University: towards a culture of health.
Health professional entry-to-practice programmes are intense, competitive and prolonged. The aims of this study were to benchmark the health of health sciences students at Kuwait University, thereby informing student health services, and to establish a base for individual student's health assessments throughout the programmes. We used a convenience sample of 176 students. Assessment included a health/wellness questionnaire (smoking, nutrition, physical activity, sleep and stress) and objective measures (resting heart rate, blood pressure, waist-to-hip ratio and random blood glucose). Students had suboptimal activity, diet, stress and sleep. Health was suboptimal based on significant proportions of students in unhealthy categories for resting heart rate, blood pressure and body composition. Health status of health sciences students at Kuwait University is not consistent with healthy health professionals in training, who should serve as role models for the public. A culture of health on campus is recommended to maximize the health of students and their capacity as health role models.
Department of Physical Therapy, Faculty of Allied Health Sciences, Kuwait University, Sulaibikhat, Kuwait.
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Al-Sayegh
Department of Physical Therapy, Faculty of Allied Health Sciences, Kuwait University, Sulaibikhat, Kuwait.
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Al-Shuwai
Department of Physical Therapy, Faculty of Allied Health Sciences, Kuwait University, Sulaibikhat, Kuwait.
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Ramadan
Department of Health Information Administration, Faculty of Allied Health Sciences, Kuwait University, Sulaibikhat, Kuwait.
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Al-Qurba
Department of Physical Therapy, Faculty of Allied Health Sciences, Kuwait University, Sulaibikhat, Kuwait.
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Al-Obaidi
Department of Physical Therapy, Faculty of Allied Health Sciences, Kuwait University, Sulaibikhat, Kuwait; Department of Physical Therapy, Faculty of Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada.
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Dean
D019985:Benchmarking; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003469:Culture; D005260:Female; D015438:Health Behavior; D006304:Health Status; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D007730:Kuwait; D008297:Male; D013334:Students; D014495:Universities