1. OBJECTIVE
METHODS
BACKGROUND RESULTS
• Of the 592 students reached, 381 responded to the anonymous survey
(64% response rate). Survey respondents included 227 (60%) females,
175 (46%) first year and 206 (54%) second year pharmacy students.
• 54% of students believed their curriculum educated them well or very
well on diet, 42% on physical activity, and 34% on stress management.
Compared to first year students, second years felt significantly better
educated on topics of diet (p<0.0001) and physical activity (p=0.002) but
not stress management (p=0.71).
• Compared to first year students, second year students felt significantly
more confident counseling patients on diet (p=0.047) and physical
activity (p=0.013) but not stress management (p=0.050).
• Chronic conditions such as heart disease, cancer, diabetes, and
obesity are among the most prevalent, costly, and preventable of all
health problems.1
• While lifestyle modification is the cornerstone of preventative medicine,
most healthcare professionals are not equipped to counsel on health
and wellness habits.2
• Previous survey results show that only 11% of pharmacists felt
prepared to counsel patients on diet, despite APhA policy advocating
all pharmacists to be knowledgeable about nutrition.3,4
• Currently, it is unknown whether pharmacy students at MCPHS
University feel comfortable addressing patient health habits and
providing informed recommendations.
Health and wellness perceptions and behaviors among pharmacy students:
An exploratory cross sectional survey analysis
Kyle Terpak, PharmD; Courtney Jarvis, PharmD
1. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Accessed July 23, 2015.; 2. Levy MD, et al. Am J Clin Nutr. 2014;99(suppl):1194S-201S.; 3. Kotecki JE, et al. J Am Pharm Assoc. 2000;40(6).; 4. Pharmacist Training in Nutrition. APhA Current Adopted Policy Statements. 2013.
• Students in their first and second year of an accelerated pharmacy
program at the MCPHS University - Worcester/Manchester campus
were invited to complete an online survey.
• The survey assessed three self-reported domains:
1. Perception of the impact of diet, physical activity, and
psychological stress on health and disease.
2. Behaviors regarding diet, physical activity, and stress
management.
3. Level of confidence in recommending lifestyle habit modifications
to patients, which include diet, physical activity, and stress
management.
• Group comparisons were made using unpaired, two tailed, t-tests and
Pearson chi-square analyses. Significance was declared at < 0.05.
CONCLUSIONS
• While most students perceive topics of diet, exercise, and mental
wellbeing as important for health and disease prevention, a large
proportion do not follow recommended health behaviors.
• Improvements in diet and exercise education in the second year may
explain the increased counseling confidence among second year
students. Efforts should be made to increase training on mental
wellbeing and stress management in all program years.
• As future healthcare professionals and role models, significant emphasis
needs to be placed on developing healthy habits now. To encourage
such behaviors, institutional policies and support are necessary.
To see if current MCPHS University pharmacy students feel confident
to counsel patients on healthy lifestyle habits.
Perceptions
Belief of the impact of […] in health and the prevention of disease
73
83
87
22
13
11
4Stress Mgmt. (%)
Physical activity (%)
Diet (%)
Significant Impact Moderate Impact Slight Impact Unsure of Impact No Impact
10
16
13
53
56
56
31
24
28
6
5
Stress Mgmt. (%)
Physical activity (%)
Dietary (%)
Very confident Somewhat confident Not very confident Not at all confident
Frequency of colorful fruit and vegetable consumption
Behaviors
Patient Counseling Confidence
Confidence in personal ability to help change patients’ […] habits
5 18 19 17 41%
7 or 6 days 5 or 4 days 3 days 2 days ≤1 day
Frequency of moderate to vigorous physical activity per week
4 13 24 21 38%
≥2x per day Nearly daily 2-4x per week 1x per week <1 per week
Frequency of activities to deliberately manage stress
5 20 41 21 14%
≥2x per day Nearly daily 2-4x per week 1x per week <1 per week
Disclosure: None of the authors have conflicts of interest regarding this research.
Relationship of Health Recommendations Met and
Counseling Confidence
Recommendations
Confident,
N
Not Confident,
N
%* P Value
Dietary
Met 62 15 81
0.018
Not Met 201 101 67
Physical
Activity
Met 48 6 89
0.002
Not Met 223 102 69
* Percentage of students who felt confident to counsel among all students who met or did not meet recommendations.
Students who met dietary recommendations for eating fruits/vegetables (nearly daily or more often) were significantly
more confident to counsel on patients’ dietary habits , [Χ2(1)=6, p=0.018]. Similarly, those who met physical activity
guidelines (greater than 150 minutes of moderate to vigorous exercise per week) were significantly more confident to
counsel on patients’ exercise habits, [Χ2(1)=9, p=0.002].
Self-Reported Domains