PHYSICAL ACTIVITY OF PHYSIOTHERAPY STUDENTS AT THE MEDICAL UNIVERSITY OF WARSAW

Introduction
Regular physical activity allows maintenance of physical fitness at an optimal level and also contributes to greater care for other elements of a healthy lifestyle. The promotion of physical activity should be one of the tasks of health professionals, including physiotherapists. The aim of this study was to assess physical activity levels of physiotherapy students.

Material and methods
This study involved 853 students (634 women and 219 men) of the Faculty of Physiotherapy of the Medical University of Warsaw (444 first-year students and 409 second-year students). The research tools were the International Physical Activity Questionnaire – short version (IPAQ-SF) and the author's own survey to obtain information on the type of physical activity and reasons for taking it up or not.

Results
Men had significantly higher levels of physical activity than women (p<0.001). The physical activity levels of second-year female students were higher than those of first-year female students (p=0.026). Among men, there was no significant difference between first and second-year students.

Conclusions
More than half of those surveyed do not engage in any physical activity outside of curriculum activities. The results obtained in this study may form the basis for continuing research with the participation of various groups of subjects and using more advanced technologies and research tools.