Exercise prescription among healthcare professionals in Kakamega Kenya

The healthcare setting has been recognized as an appropriate and promising venue for counseling and prescribing physical activity to increase activity index of the population. Whereas research has shown a positive effect of physical activity on risk factors for non-communicable diseases, limited research on the topic suggests that many healthcare professionals are not incorporating exercise into treatment and many also lack the confidence to do so. The study's general objective was to determine knowledge levels, attitude levels, practice, training and barriers to exercise counselling and exercise prescription among healthcare professionals in Kakamega County, Kenya. A cross-sectional analytical study was carried out in seven public health facilities purposively selected in Kakamega County. Nurses, doctors and clinical officers from each of the facilities were stratified and randomly sampled. Data was collected using a questionnaire developed from literature on related studies anda total of 221 questionnaires were clean and complete for data analysis. The data was subjected to univariate, bivariate and multivariate analysis using the software Statistical Package for Social Sciences