Preventive Medicine via Lifestyle Medicine Implementation Practices Should Consider Individuals' Complex Psychosocial Profile

Abstract

Noncommunicable chronic diseases are associated with lifestyle behaviors. Psychological and social factors may influence the adoption of such behaviors. Being mentally and physically energized or fatigued may influence the intention-behavior gap of healthy lifestyle adoption accordingly. We investigated the associations of age, sex, lifestyle behaviors, mood, and mental and physical energy and fatigue at both the trait and state levels. The participants (N = 670) completed questionnaires assessing their sleep, mood, mental and physical state energy and fatigue, physical activity, mental workload, and diet. The ordinary least squares regression models revealed an overlap between the mental state and trait energy levels for males who consume polyphenols, have a high mental workload, and sleep well. Being younger, having a high stress level, bad sleep habits, and being confused and depressed were associated with high mental fatigue. Physical energy and fatigue shared the same commonalities with the previous results, with greater discrepancies observed between the state and trait indicators compared to that between mental energy and fatigue. Diet and stress management seem to be predictors of high physical energy, and females report higher physical fatigue levels. Health care professionals should consider this psychosocial complex profiling in their differential diagnosis and when one is implementing lifestyle behavioral changes to address the facets of preventive medicine, wellness, and health promotion.

Keywords: caffeine; fatigue; mental workload; physical activity; polyphenols; sleep.