Author: Abdullah Hasan
Hasan, Abdullah, 2019 Evaluating the Healthy Lifestyle Behaviours of Nursing Students in Kuwait, Flinders University, College of Nursing and Health Sciences
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Research has shown that undergraduate university students engage in risky behaviours that affect both their current and future health status (Can et al., 2008; El Ansari et al., 2011; El Ansari et al., 2014). This study aims to evaluate health-related behaviours among undergraduate students of the College of Nursing (CoN) in Kuwait, using the Healthy Lifestyle Scale for University Students (HLSUS) tool specifically for university students. The objectives are: (1) describe the demographic data of students at the CoN, (2) assess gender differences of the overall score of HLSUS at CoN, and (3) evaluate factors associated with health-related behaviours of CoN students, using HLSUS. A cross-sectional descriptive survey was conducted from April and June 2018 using the HLSUS tool to assess the demographic data of nursing students at CoN and the HLSUS score to determine any association between them. The Cronbach’s alpha of the HLSUS tool was 0.81 making the tool reliable. Ethics approval was granted by the Flinders University Social and Behavioural Research Ethics Committee (SBREC) (Approval #7872), as well as the ethics committee of CoN in Kuwait. Out of a total of 269 respondents, 257 completed the questionnaire. The response rate in this study was 33.67%. Although there were more female students enrolled at CoN than male students, the number of male participants was approximate to the females which implies that male students in CoN were more interested in participating in questionnaires. According to HLSUS the academic year was the only category to have significance on healthy lifestyle behaviours. The majority of undergraduate nursing students in Kuwait practiced healthy lifestyle behaviours, with gender differences and sociodemographic influences on some HLSUS subscales. However, this study highlighted the importance of developing university facilities and amenities to include on-campus gym facilities, a smoke-free campus, healthy food choices, stress management programmes and mental health counselling services. It is recommended that policy makers and stakeholders be aware of the needs of Kuwaiti university students regarding adapting a healthy lifestyle. Further research is also needed to detect barriers and monitor trends that influence the health-related behaviours among university students. The results of this study will be useful for designing health promotion programs and planning more effective inventions in university settings.
Keywords: ‘healthy lifestyle’, ‘health behaviours’, 'health-related behaviours', ‘health practises’, ‘health habits’, ‘lifestyle characteristics’, ‘lifestyle’, ‘assessment’, ‘evaluate’, ‘student’, ‘undergraduate’, ‘university student’, ‘college student’
Subject: Nursing thesis
Thesis type: Masters
Completed: 2019
School: College of Nursing and Health Sciences
Supervisor: Dean Whitehead