Abstract

Background and Aims:
At least a quarter of adults in Saudi Arabia have a chronic health condition, but little is known about the health of physicians specifically. Among physicians working in Saudi Arabia, I assessed the rate of chronic conditions and identified any correlations with sociodemographic or lifestyle factors.
Methods:
Over 300 physicians from hospitals across the Qassim region of Saudi Arabia participated in this cross-sectional study. They completed a questionnaire that inquired about demographic characteristics, lifestyle choices (physical activity, smoking), sleep quality, and chronic health conditions. Descriptive statistics, chi-square tests, and logistic regression are presented.
Results:
Most (62.7%) of the 370 physicians were expatriates, a third coming from Egypt and Sudan. Men (68.1%), married individuals (71.9%), and those living with their families (76.2%) made up the majority of respondents. Specialists (39.2%) and residents (36.5%) were more common professional ranks than consultants (24.3%). The majority (65.8%) of physicians were active or very active, while only 10.5% were current smokers However, they reported suboptimal sleep, with 51.4% rating their sleep as fair and 20.8% rating it poor or terrible. The rates of chronic conditions were low overall; hypertension was 16.8%, asthma 7.8%, diabetes 5.1%, and heart disease was 3.0%.
Conclusion:
The majority of physicians in Qassim reported healthy lifestyle choices and a relatively low prevalence of chronic disease. However, given the high levels of occupational stress, long working hours, and inadequate sleep quality, targeted interventions could be instituted to improve physician well-being and sustain workforce performance.

Key words: Physicians in Saudi Arabia, Health and lifestyle analysis, Demographic characteristics, Work-life balance, Chronic health conditions