Objectives:

To promote a holistic approach to healthcare, the University of Cyberjaya (UoC) introduced a unique elective course called sport pharmacy which incorporates components of lifestyle interventions. Customers are increasingly seeking guidance on lifestyle factors that impact their health. Pharmacists with expertise in sports and exercise can meet this demand. However, there is a lack of studies about the impact of non-pharmacological approaches on health parameters among healthcare professionals and pharmacy students in Malaysia. The objectives of this study were to compare students’ health parameters based on non-pharmacological approaches and identify the factors that motivate them to maintain their health.

Materials and Methods:

The study comprised of 47 Year 4 pharmacy students in pre and post practical phase (September 2018 and November 2018), followed by post-resting phase (May 2019). Data collection form in the Sport Pharmacy course was used for the data collection.

Results:

A little less than half of the students displayed normal Body Mass Index (BMI). After the post-resting period, there was a rise in the number of students classified as obese, as well as those with high TC and FBG. Around 23% continued to control their diet and 32% maintained their physical activity levels during the post-resting study.

Conclusion:

Among those who did continue with their diet control, the main motivations were ‘maintaining health’ (34.8%) followed closely by ‘seeing results’(30.4%) and ‘feeling better’ ( 26.1%). In the post-resting study, respondents were asked about the factors that motivated them to continue physical activity. The top three factors identified were health, feeling better, and having fun. On the other hand, the main reasons for not continuing a non-pharmacological approach were lack of motivation, study schedule, and lack of time. A significant impact on FBG was observed after conducting a 10-week non-pharmacological approach that included physical activity and diet control. Surprisingly, there was no noticeable impact on BMI and TC. The post-resting study revealed that only a minority (of the participants continued with the non-pharmacological approach, resulting in no significant changes in BMI, FBG, and TC.

Keywords: Non-pharmacological, Body Mass Index, Fasting Blood Glucose, Total Cholesterol, Pharmacy Students