Lifestyle in Undergraduate Nursing Students at a Colombian University

Abstract

Lifestyles are a way of life, based on the interaction of living conditions and constant behaviors influenced by social and cultural factors and by the individual characteristics of each person.

Objective: To characterize the lifestyles of nursing students at a university in Colombia. Methodology: descriptive, cross-sectional, correlational study in a sample of 376 nursing students. The Health Promotion Model - Instruments to Measure Health Promoting Lifestyle: Health- Promoting Lifestyle Profile (Spanish version) was applied; the statistical analysis was performed with SPSS software version 20.

Results:Responsibility with health: in the overall results of the dimension it was reported that the highest percentage (50.3%) was located in the option frequently; Physical activity: the option sometimes and frequently were located with similar percentages 45.5% and 47.5 % respectively; Nutrition: the highest percentage represented in 53. 2%, was located in the option frequently; Spirituality: spiritual growth behavior 59.8% including growth and positive change, being connected with a spiritual force; Interpersonal relationships: the overall results reported healthy behaviors in students represented in 63.3%; Stress management: 55.9% was located in the option frequently.Most of the dimensions have a highly significant statistical relationship.

Conclusion: nursing students have healthy behaviors in the dimensions of spirituality and interpersonal relationships; and unhealthy behaviors in the dimensions of responsibility with health, nutrition, physical activity; this may be due to the existence of a set of cultural, social, economic and academic factors that influence the behaviors of each of these variables. There was no statistical relationship between the dimensions: physical activity and spirituality; physical activity and interpersonal relationships, stress management and spirituality.