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Medical education and training
Protocol
Development of a physical activity monitoring tool for Thai medical schools: a protocol for a mixed methods study
  1. Apichai Wattanapisit1,2,
  2. Surasak Vijitpongjinda1,2,
  3. Udomsak Saengow1,2,
  4. Waluka Amaek3,
  5. Sanhapan Thanamee4,
  6. Prachyapan Petchuay1
  1. 1 School of Medicine, Walailak University, Nakhon Si Thammarat, Thailand
  2. 2 Center of Excellence in Health System and Medical Research, Walailak University, Nakhon Si Thammarat, Thailand
  3. 3 School of Architecture and Design, Walailak University, Nakhon Si Thammarat, Thailand
  4. 4 Department of Family Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai, Thailand
  1. Correspondence to Dr Apichai Wattanapisit; apichai.wa{at}wu.ac.th

Abstract

Introduction Physical activity (PA) is important in promoting health, as well as in the treatment and prevention of diseases. However, insufficient PA is still a global health problem and it is also a problem in medical schools. PA training in medical curricula is still sparse or non-existent. There is a need for a comprehensive understanding of the extent of PA in medical schools through several indicators, including people, places and policies. This study includes a survey of the PA prevalence in a medical school and development of a tool, the Medical School Physical Activity Report Card (MSPARC), which will contain concise and understandable infographics and information for exploring, monitoring and reporting information relating to PA prevalence.

Methods and analysis This mixed methods study will run from January to September 2017. We will involve the School of Medicine, Walailak University, Thailand, and its medical students (n=285). Data collection will consist of both primary and secondary data, divided into four parts: general information, people, places and policies. We will investigate the PA metrics about (1) people: the prevalence of PA and sedentary behaviours; (2) place: the quality and accessibility of walkable neighbourhoods, bicycle facilities and recreational areas; and (3) policy: PA promotion programmes for medical students, education metrics and investments related to PA. The MSPARC will be developed using simple symbols, infographics and short texts to evaluate the PA metrics of the medical school.

Ethics and dissemination This study has been approved by the Human Research Ethics Committee of Walailak University (protocol number: WUEC-16-005-01). Findings will be published in peer-reviewed journals and presented at national or international conferences. The MSPARC and full report will be disseminated to relevant stakeholders, policymakers, staff and clients.

  • Medical school
  • medical students
  • physical activity
  • policy
  • report card

This is an Open Access article distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/

https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2017-017297

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    Footnotes

    • Contributors AW and ST initiated the idea for the project and developed the study design. SV, US and WA provided advice for the study design. PP was responsible for supervision of project. AW wrote early drafts of the manuscript. All the authors read and approved the final draft of the manuscript.

    • Funding This work was supported by Walailak University grant number WUDPL60001.

    • Competing interests None declared.

    • Patient consent Obtained.

    • Ethics approval Human Research Ethics Committee Walailak University.

    • Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.