High levels of physical inactivity amongst dental professionals: a questionnaire based cross sectional study

A Dentist plays an important role in providing health education (General and Oral) to the community. Questions arise regarding their own health, which in turn affects their patients' counselling for leading a healthy and a physically active life.

To measure and compare the amount of physical activity present amongst dental professionals with the general population of Greater Noida.

The International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ) was used to measure physical activity and statistical significance was calculated using SPSS version 21.0. Statistical significance was kept as p <.05.

Compared to the general population, Dentists were more obese and reported increased levels of low physical activity. Dentists had an increased and significant transportation and leisure time activity (p= .03 and .01) whereas, the general population had a higher level of vigorous activity(p = <.01). The MET hour/week for dentists and general population was 33.72 and 36.24 respectively, which was quite low as compared to European population.

The results indicate that dentists report a lower level of physical activity as compared to the general population of Greater Noida. However, on a global scale, the physical inactiveness of dentists and general population alike could pose a serious health hazard and if kept unchecked, shall increase the global burden of chronic disease.