Determination of healthy lifestyle behaviors and related factors in Medical Faculty students in Rize

Aim: In this study, it was aimed to determine the level of healthy living behaviors of students studying at Recep Tayyip Erdoğan University Faculty of Medicine in the 2023-2024 academic year and to determine the factors associated with healthy living behaviors. Materials and Methods: The study was cross-sectional. The population of the study consisted of a total of 800 students enrolled in the 2023-2024 academic year at Recep Tayyip Erdoğan University Faculty of Medicine. The entire population was included in the study by not selecting any sample. A total of 586 of the students included in the study were reached. Data were collected through an online questionnaire using Google Forms. In the questionnaire, questions about the sociodemographic characteristics of the students, questions about healthy life behaviors and Healthy Lifestyle Behavior Scale II questions were used. Shapiro-Wilk, Mann Whitney U, Kruskal Wallis, Spearman Correlation and multiple Linear Regression tests were used in statistical analysis. After the Kruskal-Wallis test, post-hoc analyses were performed to determine the groups that made the difference. Findings: The age of the participants was 21.62±2.08 years. 59.2% (347) of the students were female and 40.8% (239) were male. It was determined that 24% of the students smoked cigarettes and 25.4% used alcohol. In our study, the mean of the students' responses for the Healthy Lifestyle Behavior Scale II was 119.43±21.05. In our study, the highest mean was 23.90±5.23 for spiritual development and the lowest mean was 16.36±4.88 for physical activity. When the variables affecting the overall scale score of the Healthy Lifestyle Behaviors Scale II of the students participating in the study were evaluated with multiple linear regression model, it was found that smoking status, having a hobby, sleep duration and regular exercise status were associated with the change in the overall scale score. Conclusion: As a result of the study, recommendations were made to offer healthy nutrition opportunities to medical students free of charge, to provide more education on primary prevention and healthy lifestyle behaviors, to organize educational programs to raise awareness about the harms of smoking and alcohol, to encourage them to engage in physical activities and to provide adequate opportunities for them to perform these activities. Key words: Medical students, Healthy Lifestyle Behavior Scale II, health promotion model.