Abstract:
Background: Regular physical activities play an important role in the primary
andsecondarypreventionofseveralchronicdiseases. The main aim of the study was to investigate
whether health care professionals are prescribing physical exercise as medicine to patients for
non-communicable diseases (NCDs) and the factors limiting them not to prescribe physical
exercise in selected hospitals and sport science professionals in Jimma town.
Methods: Thetotal targetpopulationwas1000professionals from (nurse=86, internist=34,
physician=107, sport science professionals=73) the sample size of the study was 227 health
professionals by proportionality and 73 sport science professionals by availability sampling.
Descriptive survey cross section method would used to conduct this studythefromhealth and
sport science professionals to collect date. Self-administer questionnaire were used from two
government and two privet hospital was byrandom sampling method. The source of data was
primary data. The data analysed by quantitatively and interpreted throughpercentage, frequency
or numbers, table.
Result::The health professionals and sport science professionals reported 71.3% of professionals
had poor written exercise prescription ,70% of professionals had inadequate knowledge about
exercise prescription66% of professionals responded that there in written guidelines. The
analysis of regression shows that gender(male: OR 0.51,95%CL 0.27to 0.94) ,institution(primary
hospital :OR3.38,95%CL 0.86 to 13.2),service years(6 to 10 years: OR 1.43,95CL 0.39 to
5.15),specialty(nurse: OR 0.66,95% CL 0.3 to1.4),marital status(married: OR 0.94,95% CL0.45
to 1.96)were associated with physical exercise prescription for their patients.
Conclusion:The exercise prescription of knowledge, practice, confidence, trends and desire of
majority of health professionals regarding to prescribe exercise for non-communicable diseases
to patients were poor. In many hospitals some health professionals is not appreciated patients to
do exercise. Inadequate awareness of professional‟s concerning to benefits of exercises to
patients.
