Abstract
AIM: The aim of this study was to determine the relationship between the physical activity levels and cognitive perceptions of physicians and the frequency of exercise prescribed by primary care physicians. METHODS: This cross-sectional study was conducted with 221 primary care physicians. A questionnaire of three sections was administered, including questions prepared according to the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) recommendations evaluating the current practices of the physicians on the subject of prescribing exercise, the General Practice Physical Activity Questionnaire (GPPAQ), Cognitive Behavioural Physical Activity Questionnaire (CBPAQ). RESULTS: A significant relationship was determined between the daily physical activity of the physician and exercise prescribing rates (P = 0.005). From the data obtained from the GPPAQ and the CBPAQ, it was determined that as the activity level increased, so the Outcome Expectation (P < 0.001), Self-regulation (P < 0.001), Total Cognitive Activity (P < 0.001) points increased. The frequency of prescribing exercise was found to be <20% for all chronic diseases for which exercise is known to be effective. A significant relationship was determined between prescribing exercise and the total number of correct responses to the questions measuring the level of knowledge according to the ACSM recommendations (P < 0.001). Mann-Whitney U and Kruskal-Wallis tests were used for non-normally distributed data, while Pearson, likelihood ratio, and chi-square tests were used for analyzing relationships between categorical variables. CONCLUSION: Incorporating exercise prescription training into the core medical and family medicine curricula may increase physicians' self-efficacy and contribute to overcoming barriers in prescribing exercise.