Knowledge, attitudes and practice of primary care physicians in eastern provinces of Saudi Arabia towards exercise during pregnancy.

Abstract

Physical activity is well known to have enormous benefits for women in all phases of life, including pregnancy. The purpose of this study was to assess the knowledge, attitude, and practices of primary care physicians towards exercise during pregnancy in the eastern provinces of Saudi Arabia: Qatif, Dammam, and Al-Khobar. A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted between January and June 2019 among primary care physicians, based on a 32-item self-administered questionnaire distributed through e-mails and SMS messaging. Descriptive statistics and Chi-square analysis were used to compare groups. The majority of participants (97.3%) believed that exercise during pregnancy is beneficial and showed fair knowledge; however, most of them (86.5%) were unaware of the guidelines and nearly half of them (55.2%) did not give advice on exercise to their patients. Primary care physicians demonstrate fair knowledge and positive attitude towards exercise in pregnancy; however, their practice and recommendations did not align with the guidelines. Thus, we need to bridge this gap by providing well-structured evidence based continuous educational programs and activities to all physicians providing maternal care.