The psychological health status and healthy life style behaviors of the resident physicians specializing at Hospital of Inonu University Medicine Faculty

OBJECTIVES: This study has been carried out to define the psychological health status and healthy life conditions to be improved of the assistants specializing at Hospital of Inonu University Medicine Faculty and to analyze them and the relationships with socio-demographic variables, to define the factors influencing the healthy life style and it aims to provide suggestions about healthy life style to the assistants.METHOD: The universe of the research which is cross-sectional consists of the assistants specializing at the Hospital of Inonu University Medicine Faculty. In the scope of the research, 96 of them as women and 139 as men, totally 235 assistants took place. In the study carried out in the months of May-August 2010, socio-demographic data survey, GSA (General Health Survey) and SYBDÖ (Healthy Life Style Behaviors Scale) have been used. SPSS 16.0 Statistics packet program has been used to analyze the data, chi-square test, ANOVA and T Test between two Independent Groups and Pearson Correlation Analysis have been used in the analyses.FINDINGS: The assistants who are included in the scope of the research are 40.9% women, 59.1% men, 59.1% married, 47.7% is under the age of 30 and the average age is 30.36±3.79. 50.6% works at internal medicine, 41.3% works at surgical medicine, 8.1% works at basic medicine; 55.7% has stated that they are in the middle class economically, 53% has stated that they are content with the departments that they work at, 29.1% has stated that they are partly content with the departments that they work at, 62% has told that they do not smoke. The total Scale of Healthy Life Style Behaviors score of the all assistants who participated in the research is 116.31±17.80. It is determined that the highest scores are in the field of interpersonal relations and the lowest scores are in the field of physical activities. The health responsibility scores of the married ones and the total SYBD scores of the ones who work at basic medicine are found to be higher. Self-realization, interpersonal relation and stress management scores of the ones who are content with the departments they work at are found to be high; self-realization, nutrition and total SYBD scores of the ones who have good relations with the directors are found to be high; almost all SYBD scores of the assistants who participate in the annual assistant training program and who have good relations with their fellow workers are found to be high. 41.1% of the ones whose general health condition is good and 91.7% of the ones whose general health condition is bad have a bad general psychological health. A statistically significant gap is found between general health condition and general psychological health condition (p<0.05). A correlation is done between GSA total scores and SYBD total scores and a negative relationship is found (r= -0.25 p= 0.001).RESULTS: Most of the SYBDs are positively affected by being content with the department they work at, having good relations with fellow workers and having annual assistant training program. Physical activity, nutrition, stress management and SYBD total scores of those who have a good general health situation are found to be higher. The assistants have got the lowest scores at physical activity. Some suitable activities can be arranged in order to get them to do physical activity. When the healthy life style behaviors improve positively, general psychological situation gets better, too. Health workers should improve their life styles. Because of their professional responsibilities and social roles, they have the potential to affect the group that they give health service and to be a role-model by the life styles they follow up.Key Words: Health Workers, Healthy Life Style Behaviors, General Psychological Health Situation.