Motivation and factors affecting sports participation: a cross-sectional study on female medical students in Pakistan.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the factors associated with participation of Pakistani female students in organised sports at a university in a rural setting in Pakistan. METHODS: This cross-sectional study was conducted during March and April 2017 at the Peoples University of Medical & Health Sciences for Women, Nawabshah in the Sindh province of Pakistan, and comprised undergraduate female students who got injured during the "Sports Week" organized at the university and visited the on-site physiotherapy camp. Data collection tools included physical activity and leisure motivation scale, sport motivation scale, and athlete fear avoidance questionnaire. SPSS v20 was used for data analysis. RESULTS: Of the 403 students participating in the Sports Week, sports injuries were reported by 127(31.51%) students. Regular physical activity was reported by only 28(22%) participants. Overuse was the most common cause of sports injuries 67(52.8%). Ankle was the main affected site 31(24.4%). The most common injury types were cramps 59(46.5%) and sprains 58(45.7%). Use of improper technique was observed in 61(48%) students. The most common intrinsic motives were 'enjoyment', with a mean value of 21.3±2.71, and 'to know' 21.71±5.2. The most common extrinsic motives were 'physical condition', with a mean value of 21.51±2.81, and 'identified regulation' 21.74±5.6. CONCLUSIONS: Prevalence of sports injuries in female university students was high. The students should be trained about the proper way of sports participation.

Physiotherapy and pharmacy students perception of educational environment in a medical university from Pakistan.

OBJECTIVE: To assess and compare the perceptions of the educational environment between physiotherapy and pharmacy students in a public-sector medical university. METHODS: This cross-sectional study was conducted at the Peoples University of Medical and Health Sciences for Women, Nawabshah, Pakistan, and comprised undergraduate physiotherapy and pharmacy students. The Dundee Ready Educational Environment Measure questionnaire was used to assess the perceptions of students about their educational environment. Global and subscale scores were computed and compared between the respondents. P<0.05 was considered statistically significant. RESULTS: Of the 300 questionnaires, 281(93.66%) were returned duly filled in. The overall mean global score was 127.2±16.0. For physiotherapy students, the mean global score was 124.9±14.0 while it was 131.7±18.9 for pharmacy students (p=0.16). The domain scores were comparable for both specialties (p>0.05). There was no significance difference in the global and domain scores for preclinical and clinical years in the students (p>0.05). However, in the physiotherapy students, the global and domain scores for Dundee Ready Educational Environment Measure were significantly lower in clinical than preclinical students (p<0.05) except for students' social self-perception (p>0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Students were overall positive about their educational environment.