Surgeon ability to predict physical activity and sedentary time: Comparison of self-reported and measured activity

Prior work evaluated clinician work-related physical activity and found it does not meet recommended requirements. We aimed to assess more fully daily surgeon physical activity and compare it to self-reported activity.

This multispecialty prospective cohort study included attending surgeons from 14 surgical departments within four French university hospitals. Over a 14-month period (11/01/2020-12/31/2021), surgeons were continuously monitored 24/7 for their daily physical activity by wearing an accelerometer on their ankle. For each surgeon, measured parameters included the daily average of step counts and sedentary time, as well as the total weekly time of physical activity within the 30 days preceding surgeries. Surgeons self-reported the validated Global Physical Activity Questionnaire from the World Health Organization (WHO). The self-reported and measured physical activity of surgeons were described, and their correlation was assessed using Spearman rank correlation.

Overall, there were 38 surgeons in the cohort and 8810 surgeries performed. Surgeons were 78.9 % male, median age was 46.1, and median BMI was 24.5. Median measured daily step count was 9439 (IQR: 7238-9918). The measured weekly total time of physical activity was 918 min (95 % CI: 767-990), while the corresponding self-reported median time was 1940 min (95 % CI: 1120-3600) (Spearman coefficient = 0.14, p = 0.41). The measured median daily sedentary time was 353 min (95 % CI: 316-374), compared to a self-reported median of 240 min (95 % CI: 210-300) (Spearman coefficient = 0.20, p = 0.24).

Surgeons may overestimate the sufficiency of their physical activity and underestimate their sedentary time. Increased awareness is needed to improve surgeon wellness.