Assessing Physical Activity and Perceived Barriers Among Physicians in Primary Healthcare in Makkah City, Saudi Arabia

Introduction Advocating a healthy lifestyle is the cornerstone of primary healthcare physicians. As physicians are the ultimate role models for patients regarding health and well-being, we focused on physicians working in primary healthcare centers (PHCs) in Makkah because they work on the frontline of disease prevention and are considered the first point of contact for patients entering the health system. This study aimed to estimate the physical activity levels in physicians working in the PHCs of Makkah and any perceived barriers to engage in physical activity. Methodology We conducted a cross-sectional study at PHCs in Makkah from October 2021 to December 2021. We used a multistage cluster random sampling technique to select primary healthcare physicians in Makkah city. We recruited 196 physicians working in PHCs for this study. We used the short version of the International Physical Activity Questionnaire to measure physical activity levels, and we used the barriers to being active questionnaire to identify the barriers. Descriptive analysis was performed using frequencies. Bivariate associations between the most frequently reported barriers and sociodemographic variables were determined using the chi-square test, Student t-test, and analysis of variance via IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows, version 22.0 (Armonk, NY: IBM Corp.). Results Approximately 45.9% of physicians were overweight, while 69.4% were not gym members. In the seven days prior to answering the surveys, approximately 71.9% did not report any vigorous activity, and 30.6% had performed moderate activity. The most significant barrier to being active was a lack of time (70.9%), followed by a lack of resources (69.9%). In bivariate analysis, we noted a significant negative relationship between gym membership, vigorous and moderate physical activity, and perceived barriers scores (p<0.001). Conclusion Most of the physicians in PHCs are not physically active. The main barrier to their physical activity is lack of time. There is a need to encourage them and motivate them to be physically active to model more healthy behaviors to the general population.