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. 2024 May 27:30:e943399.
doi: 10.12659/MSM.943399.

Exploring the Educational Social and Physical Activities Among Health Care Undergraduates - a Cross-Sectional Study Among Saudi Students

Alya Alghamdi  1 , Wajid Syed  2 , Osama A Samarkhandi  3 , Mohammed M Albalawi  4 , Ibrahim Nasser Alsulaihim  5 , Shogair Mshal Almutairi  4 , Mahmood Basil A Al-Rawi  6
Affiliations

Exploring the Educational Social and Physical Activities Among Health Care Undergraduates - a Cross-Sectional Study Among Saudi Students

Alya Alghamdi et al. Med Sci Monit. .

Abstract

BACKGROUND The time spent on diverse social, physical, and educational activities among healthcare undergraduates (HCUs) tremendously impacts their academic and personal lives. Therefore, this study aimed to assess the social, physical, and educational activities among HCUs at King Saud University (KSU) in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (SA). MATERIAL AND METHODS A cross-sectional, self-prepared, and pre-tested e-questionnaire (electronic questionnaire) based study using a convenience sampling design in a university in SA from August 21 to November 21, 2023 was conducted to assess their various activities outside of classes, using a 16-item e-questionnaire to investigate time spent on social (4 items), physical (3 items), and educational activities (3 items). RESULTS A total of 452 HCUs completed the e-questionnaires, giving a response rate of 92.62%. Of them, 50.45% were females, the median age was 23 years, and 32.08% (n=145) were medical undergraduates. About 57% of the HCUs spent 1-2 h per day on educational activities during the day, while 32.7% of the HCUs spent 2 h per day on social media, and 62.6% spent 3-4 h per day with family. The findings revealed that the 140 females spent significantly more time (1-2 h) reading and writing compared to the 117 male HCUs (P=0.001). Age was found to be associated with time spent on education by HCUs (P=0.001). CONCLUSIONS Our findings among HCUs show that most spend a significant amount of time on educational activities during the day. Undergraduates also spend time with their families and participate in other social activities.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of interest: None declared

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Outline of research design.
Figure 2
Figure 2
(A) Time spent for educational activities and gender. (B) Time spent for educational activities and age. (C) Time spent on educational activities and sleeping pattern.
Figure 3
Figure 3
(A) Time spent on social media by gender. (B) Time spent on social media by age.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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