The Relationship between Levels of Physical Activity and Academic Achievement among Medical and Health Sciences Students at Cyberjaya University College of Medical Sciences

BACKGROUND: This study aimed to explore the prevalence of physical activity among medical and health sciences students at Cyberjaya University College of Medical Sciences (CUCMS) and to determine the relationship of their physical activity level with their academic achievement and self-determination level. METHODS: An analytical cross-sectional study was conducted among 244 Medical and Health Sciences undergraduate students at CUCMS from January to April 2017 using self-administered short-form version of the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ-SF) and the third version of the Behavioural Regulation in Exercise Questionnaire (BREQ-3). Multiple regression models were fitted using SPSS version 20 to examine the relationships between study variables. RESULTS: Half of the male students (51.7%) were in the health-enhancing physical activity (HEPA) group, as compared to only 24.7% of females. The odds of having a good grade point average was twice as high among HEPA active students (odds ratio [OR] = 1.89, 95% CI [1.09, 3.27], P = 0.023) than among non-HEPA active students. Further, the odds of being HEPA active was higher for males (OR = 3.16, 95% CI [1.61, 6.14], P < 0.01) than for females and higher for overweight students than for normal weight students (OR = 2.58, 95% CI [1.24, 5.57], P = 0.017). The odds of being HEPA active was 1.79 times higher for each unit increase in the integrated regulation score (OR = 1.79, 95% CI [1.14, 2.91], P = 0.020). CONCLUSION: The prevalence of physical inactivity was higher among females than males. This study also confirmed a significant association between physical activity level and academic achievement. HEPA active students performed better academically than those who were non-HEPA active.