Research article

The association between Colombian medical students' healthy personal habits and a positive attitude toward preventive counseling: cross-sectional analyses

John Duperly^1,2 , Felipe Lobelo^1,3 , Carolina Segura¹ , Francisco Sarmiento¹ , Deisy Herrera¹ , Olga L Sarmiento¹ and Erica Frank^4,5

¹Department of Social Medicine, Universidad de los Andes Medical School, Bogotá, Colombia

²Department of Internal Medicine, Fundación Santa Fé, Bogotá, Colombia

³Department of Exercise Science, Arnold School of Public Health, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC, USA

⁴Department of Family Practice and School of Population and Public Health, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada

⁵Department of Family and Preventive Medicine, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, USA

author email corresponding author email

BMC Public Health 2009, 9:218doi:10.1186/1471-2458-9-218

Published:	3 July 2009

Abstract

Background

Physician-delivered preventive counseling is important for the prevention and management of chronic diseases. Data from the U.S. indicates that medical students with healthy personal habits have a better attitude towards preventive counseling. However, this association and its correlates have not been addressed in rapidly urbanized settings where chronic disease prevention strategies constitute a top public health priority. This study examines the association between personal health practices and attitudes toward preventive counseling among first and fifth-year students from 8 medical schools in Bogotá, Colombia.

Methods

During 2006, a total of 661 first- and fifth-year medical students completed a culturally adapted Spanish version of the "Healthy Doctor = Healthy Patient" survey (response rate = 78%). Logistic regression analyses were used to assess the association between overall personal practices on physical activity, nutrition, weight control, smoking, alcohol use (main exposure variable) and student attitudes toward preventive counseling on these issues (main outcome variable), stratified by year of training and adjusting by gender and medical training-related factors (basic knowledge, perceived adequacy of training and perception of the school's promotion on each healthy habit).

Results

The median age and percentage of females for the first- and fifth-year students were 21 years and 59.5% and 25 years and 65%, respectively. After controlling for gender and medical training-related factors, consumption of ≥ 5 daily servings of fruits and/or vegetables, not being a smoker or binge drinker were associated with a positive attitude toward counseling on nutrition (OR = 4.71; CI = 1.6–14.1; p = 0.006 smoking (OR = 2.62; CI = 1.1–5.9; p = 0.022), and alcohol consumption (OR = 2.61; CI = 1.3–5.4; p = 0.009), respectively.

Conclusion

As for U.S. physician and medical students, a positive association was found between the personal health habits of Colombian medical students and their corresponding attitudes toward preventive counseling, independent of gender and medial training-related factors. Our findings, the first relating to this association in medical students in developing regions, also suggest that within the medical school context, interventions focused on promoting healthy student lifestyles can potentially improve future physician's attitudes toward preventive counseling.