Promotion of healthy lifestyle: knowledge and attitudes of primary care physicians

This study was conducted in Riyadh city to determine the knowledge and attitudes of primary health care physicians regarding promotion of certain healthy lifestyles. Using a stratification technique, 50% of the male physicians were selected at random. A validated self-administered questionnaire was distributed to (and recollected from) the participants. One physician refused to participate resulting in a response rate approaching 99%. Most of the physicians (77.5%) were shown to have satisfactory knowledge, while only 20% possessed reasonably positive attitudes. Physicians above 40 years of age were more knowledgeable than younger age group (P<0.0001). There was a general pessimism about compliance of patients to lifestyle advice. The relatively acceptable knowledge possessed by physicians was not properly translated into positive attitudes towards promotion of healthy lifestyle. To improve the situation, a greater emphasis should be placed on health promotion during undergraduate and postgraduate training of physicians.