KNOWLEDGE, ATTITUDE, PREVALENCE AND DETERMINANTS OF SPORTING ACTIVITIES AMONG MEDICAL STUDENTS IN THE UNIVERSITY OF BENIN, BENIN CITY

Sporting activities are an essential component of undergraduate student life, providing not only opportunities for physical fitness but also benefits for mental health, social cohesion, and academic performance. Among medical students, who face demanding curricula and high levels of academic stress, regular participation in sports can reduce burnout, improve concentration, and promote resilience. Determinants of sporting activity among medical students are multifactorial. Structural determinants include the availability, accessibility, and safety of sports facilities, along with institutional support such as organized competitions, club funding, and timetabled recreation periods. Individual determinants include gender, prior exposure to sports in secondary school, physical health, perceived self-efficacy, and competing responsibilities such as part-time work or fa ily commitments. There are many studies on sporting activities worldwide, but few has been carried out specifically to determine its prevalence among medical students in tertiary health institutions particularly in Benin city. Objectives: To assess the knowledge of benefits, attitude, level of participation and determinants of participation in sporting activities as well as to compare the observed benefits among participants.in the University of Benin college of medicine. Methodology: A descriptive cross-sectional study design was used for this study. Three hundred and eighty-seven medical students in the University of Benin were selected for this study using a stratified sampling technique. Data was collected using self-administered pre-structured questionnaire adapted from the American Adult Knowledge of Exercise Recommendations Survey (AAKERS), International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ) and Self-Efficacy for Exercise Scale (SEES) and analyzed using the IBM SPSS version 27.0 software. Data was categorized and analyzed using descriptive statistics, frequencies and percentage based on the total number of respondents. Univariate, bivariate, multivariate analysis were done. The level of significance was set at p < 0.05. The results were presented with tables, charts and prose Results: A total of 387 medical students participated in the study. The mean age (SD) of respondents was 22.16 ± 3.33 years. A higher proportion of the respondents 53.5% (n = 207) were males and 21.4% (n = 83) of the respondents were in final year class. A larger proportion 238 (61.5%), lived in school hostels while 253 (65.4%) received more than ₦30,000 as monthly xiv allowance, Majority (92.2%) had heard about the benefits of sporting activities with internet being the most common source of information (61..6%). Over nine-tenth 365 (94.3%) of the medical students had adequate Knowledge of benefits of sporting activities and 81.1% positive attitude toward sporting activities. Sex and place of residence were found to be significantly associated with attitude toward sporting activities. Slightly above two-thirds (64.3%) of medical students reported having ever participated in sporting activities during medical school, while only about one-tenth (14.9%) engaged in sports on a daily basis. sex, level of study, place of residence, monthly allowance, lack of time, financial constraints, physical limitations or injuries and competing academic commitments were significant determinant of level of participation. The male students were 1.80 times more likely to participate in sports than females (95% CI: 1.035–3.139, p=0.037). Preclinical students were less likely to participate than clinical students (OR=0.413, 95% CI: 0.201–0.852, p=0.017). Students residing in school hostels were over three times more likely to participate compared to those living at home (OR=3.352, 95% CI: 1.116– 10.069, p=0.031). Those with physical limitations or injuries were more likely to participate (OR=2.172, 95% CI: 1.229–3.837, p=0.008), while students with a negative attitude toward sports (OR=0.064, 95% CI: 0.030–0.138, p<0.001) and those perceiving sports facilities as too far (OR=0.498, 95% CI: 0.283–0.875, p=0.015) were less likely to participate. A majority (76.3%) of regular participants reported fewer absences from school due to illness, and (73.0%) hospitalization or bed rest for preventable conditions within the past year was less common compared to their counterparts who did not engage in sports
Conclusion: Over nine-tenths of the medical students in the University of Benin have adequate knowledge of the benefits of sporting activities. Over four-fifths of the medical xv students in the University of Benin have positive attitude toward sporting activities. Only twothirds of medical students at the University of Benin have participated in sporting activities