Students are a specific social group characterized by different lifestyle behaviours.
The aim of the study was to determine whether there are lifestyle differences between students of medical and biological fields from three different universities in Poland.
The research material consisted of answers from 1163 students (781 women and 382 men), aged 17.5– 26.0 from the medical faculty of the Wroclaw Medical University, biological faculties of the Cardinal Stefan Wyszynski University in Warsaw and the University of Lodz. The survey included questions regarding gender, socio-demographic situation, lifestyle and eating habits. Students also provided height and weight data, which was used for BMI calculation. Chi-square test and one-way ANOVA were used to indicate differences in BMI between students and to estimate differences in lifestyle between students from three different university centres.
Medical students exhibited significantly lower BMI values compared to students from other academic centres. They also more often reported doing additional sports and assessed their overall level of physical activity significantly higher compared to students from other academic centres. Biology students reported to sleep longer and being more exhausted compared to medical students. Biology students tended to drink sugar-sweetened beverages and eat fast-food significantly more often than medical students. Students from the medical faculty in Wroclaw reported to smoke cigarettes less often compared to students from non-medical study. There were no significant differences in other studied factors, such as the use of alcohol, snacking between the meals and consumption of energy drinks.
Overall, students of medical fields reported a healthier lifestyle compared to their peers from biological faculties, although this was not consistent for all examined factors.
The basic anthropometric data describing a person in the broadest context are body weight and height, two of the most frequently analyzed somatometric parameters. The same is true I in relation to clinical patients. The aim of the present study was to compare the self-reported and actual body weight, height and BMI in patients suffering from coronary artery disease and undergoing cardiac rehabilitation. The study sample consisted of 100 patients treated for coronary artery disease. The patients were asked to state their body weight and height. At the same time a three-person study team took measurements, which were later the basis for verification and objective assessment of the data provided by the patients. Statistical analysis was performed with Statistics 11.0 PL software. The analysis of mean results for the assessed group of patients has shown the presence of statistically significant differences between declared and actual data. The differences were observed for both male and female study population. It has been proven that the subjects declare greater body height (mean value 1.697 m vs. 1.666 m) and lower body weight (80.643 kg vs. 82.051 kg). Based on the data from surveys and direct measurements, the body mass index for the self-reported and actual data was calculated. A comparison of these values has shown considerable statistically significant differences. The differences between declared and actual data point to highly subjective self-assessment, which disqualifies the declared data in the context of monitoring of treatment and rehabilitation processes. The authors believe that actual data should be used in direct trial examination of patients suffering from coronary artery disease who presented with acute coronary syndrome.
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