The lifestyle continuum: family physicians’ attitudes toward lifestyle medicine and their health-promoting lifestyles

Abstract

This study investigates family physicians’ attitudes toward lifestyle medicine, focusing on how these attitudes manifest in their health-promoting lifestyles and the moderating role of their healthcare sector attainment. Employing a quantitative, cross-sectional design, multicentric data were collected from 215 family physicians via an online survey accessed through professional networks. Data were collected using a study-specific demographic and healthcare sector information form, a custom questionnaire designed for attitudes toward lifestyle medicine, and The Health-Promoting Lifestyle Profile II. Findings revealed a positive association between health-promoting lifestyles and attitudes toward lifestyle medicine. The healthcare sector attainment significantly moderated this relationship, with private practice physicians showing a significant link between their health-promoting lifestyles (specifically, personal stress management, health responsibility, physical activity, and nutrition behaviours) and their attitudes toward lifestyle medicine. Conversely, this connection was not statistically significant in the public sector. The findings were discussed within the framework of social and organizational psychology theories and relevant literature. These results suggest that while physicians generally acknowledge lifestyle medicine, its embodiment through personal health behaviours is more pronounced in specific professional contexts. Our study underscores the need for sector-specific strategies to integrate lifestyle medicine more effectively into clinical practice. Policy initiatives should address structural barriers in the public sector that might hinder physicians’ personal engagement with health-promoting behaviours, thereby impacting their professional advocacy for lifestyle medicine. Future research should explore the underlying mechanisms within different healthcare sectors and employ longitudinal designs to establish causality, ultimately aiming to enhance physician well-being and advance preventive care across all settings.