JIDAM/Chennai/Volume:7/Issue:3/Pages 85 - 90 / July- Sept 2020

JIDAM

“An Official Journal of IDA - Madras

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ORIGINAL ARTICLE

HOBBIES AND EXTRACURRICULAR

ACTIVITIES PRACTICED AMONG DENTISTS

AND MEDICAL PRACTITIONERS IN

CHENNAI – A CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDY

Dr.Sanjana.S, Dr Rachel Chacko, Dr Parameswaran.T.M,

Private Practitioners, Chennai, Tamilnadu, India

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND:

Hobbies and Extracurricular Activities (EA) provide an

outlet for stress. The Medical and Dental field is a long emotionally taxing

journey. Stress progressively develops over the course of Medical/Dental

education. It is challenging to strike a balance between leading a successful

medical profession as well as pursuing their favored Hobbies/EA’s.

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES:

1.Evaluate the number of dental and medical

practitioners participating in hobbies and extracurricular activities. 2) To

correlate the involvement of extracurricular activity in terms of progress,

joyfulness and level of achievement. 3) To suggest a schedule to continue

long lost hobbies and extracurricular activities.

Address for Correspondence:

Dr.Sanjana.S, MDS,

Private Practitioner,

Chennai-600089, Tamilnadu, India

Email id: sanjanachopra003@gmail.com

Received

: 07.09.2020

Accepted

: 17.09.2020

Published

: 27.09.2020

MATERIALS AND METHODS:

A cross-sectional study was carried out

amongst the dental and medical practitioners in Chennai between March

2017 and May 2017. A total of 120 self-administered questionnaires were

distributed amongst dentists working at 2 private colleges and as dental and

medical practitioners in private clinics. The questionnaire contained

demographic details along with a set of 14 questions which included 6 open-

ended questions and 8 closed-ended questions.

RESULTS:

Upon evaluating the number of people involving in

extracurricular activities, it was found significant that doctors working more

than 5 hours could not continue their activities regularly and those whom

worked less than 5 hours a day were able to involve regularly. Around 13

people did not answer those two questionnaires. The correlation coefficient

was positively correlated 0.012 which showed a weak positive correlation

proving that the dentists who balanced between profession and

extracurricular activities outperform the people who did not take part in

extracurricular activities. This study showed that working less or more has a

significant impact the extracurricular activities to a negative correlation. (-

0.047).

CONCLUSION:

Involvement by the dentists and medical practitioners in

hobbies and extracurricular activities and it was found significant that,

•

Majority of them who engaged in activities were continuing them

regularly.

•

They also wished to reschedule their time to participate effectively in

hobbies and activities.

KEY WORDS:

Hobbies, Extracurricular activities, Stress, Dental

professional / medical professional.

To access & cite this article

Website: jidam.idamadras.com

DOI:1.37841/jidam_2020_V7_I3_02

Sanjana et Al: Hobbies And Extracurricular Activities Practiced Among Dentists And Medical Practitioners In Chennai

– A Cross-Sectional Study

JIDAM/Chennai/Volume:7/Issue:3/Pages 85 - 90 / July- Sept 2020

INTRODUCTION:

Dentists and Medical practitioners generally

lead a stressful lifestyle that hinders them from

pursuing their hobbies and extra-curricular

activities

1,2

. Extracurricular activities (EA) are

those that fall outside the realm of the medicinal/

one’s profession. They commonly include singing,

dancing, sports, gym etc. Hobby can be termed as

an activity of interest, or passion that is carried out

during one’s own time for pleasure or relaxation. It

comprises of reading books, travelling, gardening

among other things.

Hobbies and Extracurricular activities

provide an outlet for stress and help in prevention of

burnout. It occurs by shifting focus towards a non-

work-related task and diverting our mind to focus

on something else. Literature suggests that being

engaged in such activities has attributed to a healthier

lifestyle by preventing major health risks and a

balance between work and personal life

. Engaging

in these activities also correlated to higher levels

of positive psychosocial states and lower levels of

depression and negative effect

4,5

Stress develops progressively during the

course of medical/dental education. In the course of

both pre-clinical and clinical years, medical and

dental students are expected to take responsibilities

of patients and simultaneously learn a vast amount

of facts and concepts with a limited amount of time

which creates a hectic environment for them. Studies

have shown that preclinical years are less stressful

than clinical years and additionally relationships with

staff are considered more stressful than treatment of

patients

6,7,8

. Maintaining a well-balanced career and

EA will add to their public image and prestige in their

social life. Although these activities may contribute

to student satisfaction and reduce stress levels, if not

properly balanced can burden academic routine by

overlapping class schedules and also reduce time for

other essential activities during weekends

. Hence,

medical and dental practitioners should try to engage

themselves in different hobbies/extracurricular

activities to cope with this demanding environment.

These activities can alleviate anxiety, stress, and

produce positive effects on mental and physical

health. In many instances, patients change doctors

not because of poor diagnostic or surgical skills, but

because of poor communication. There is a serious

lack of doctor’s compassion, care and interest which

relieve patient’s from their distress and concerns as

doctors themselves carry a burden called stress

The number of studies tackling stress by

participating in EA and hobbies amongst dentists

and medical practitioners has been on the rise in the

past few years

. However, most have focused on

the students and not the practitioners. Furthermore,

there are no studies that focus on the link between

the participation in EA and hobbies and relief of

stress and depression levels amongst them. This

study aims at 1) evaluating the number of dental and

medical practitioners participating in hobbies and

extracurricular activities. 2) To correlate the

involvement of extracurricular activity in terms of

progress, joyfulness and level of achievement. 3) To

suggest a schedule to continue long lost hobbies and

extracurricular activities.

MATERIALS AND METHODS:

A cross-sectional study was carried out

amongst the dental and medical practitioners in

Chennai between March 2017 and May 2017.

Dentists from two private colleges, dental and

medical practitioners in private clinics in Perambur

were evaluated. The area Perambur was randomly

selected from the list of areas falling within the

Chennai Corporation Limit. By convenience

sampling method the participants from Perambur

were selected. The questionnaire was given to all

those present on the day of evaluation. Informed

consent was obtained prior to distribution of the

questionnaire. The questionnaire was calibrated by

giving it to a sample of 10 subjects as a part of the

pilot study. It was checked for consistency in

answering the closed-ended questionnaire and

homogenicity was obtained for the open-ended

questions so that it can be evaluated effectively.

total

of 120 self-administered

questionnaires were distributed based on previous

study

using Gpower Software (Power-80%). The

questionnaire which had demographic data to be

filled along with a set of 14 questions which was

given to the dentists and medical practitioners. The

questionnaire included 6 open-ended questions and

8 closed-end questions. The 6 open-ended

questionnaires provided elaborate details of the

extracurricular activities and hobbies. Correlates of

hobbies with any award or certificates

Sanjana et Al: Hobbies And Extracurricular Activities Practiced Among Dentists And Medical

Practitioners In Chennai – A Cross-Sectional Study

JIDAM/Chennai/Volume:7/Issue:3/Pages 85 - 90 / July- Sept 2020

or its relation with any achievement was quantified

using a chi-squared test at a significance of P<0.05.

RESULTS:

TABLE 1 (Evaluation of the significance between
people involving in extracurricular activities and
those

continuing

them

regularly)

Pearson’s Chi-squared value (42.259), Degree of

freedom (6) and P value (0.00)- Significant

INVOLVEMENT IN EXTRACURRICULAR

ACTIVITIES

CONTINUING

YES

Upon evaluating the amount of people

involving in extracurricular activities, it was found

significant that most of them are continuing them

regularly. Around 14 people did not answer those

two questionnaires.

TABLE 2 (Evaluation of significance between
people who continue regularly and wanting to
reschedule their time)

Pearson’s Chi-squared value (23.237), Degree of

freedom (4) and P value (0.00)- Significant

CONTINUING REGULARLY

WISH TO

RESCHEDULE

YES

Upon evaluating the amount of people continuing

them regularly, it was found significant that most of

them wished to reschedule their time in involving in

their activities. Around 30 people (25%) did not

answer those two questionnaires.

TABLE 3 (Evaluation of significance between the
working hours of the people and those continuing
to participate regularly)

Pearson’s Chi-squared value(1.925), Degree of

freedom (4) and P value (0.750) – Not Significant.

HOURS OF WORK

Upon evaluating the number of hours they

work in a day, it was found significant that those

working more than 5 hours could not continue their

activities regularly and those whom worked less than

5 hours a day were able to involve regularly. Around

13 people did not answer those two questionnaires.

TABLE 4 (Correlation between the number of
years in the dental profession with extracurricular
activities pursued regularly)

NUMBER OF

YEARS IN

DENTAL

PROFESSION

EXTRACURRICULAR

ACTIVITIES PURSUED

YES/

CORRELATION

COEFFICIENT

<5Years

0.012

5-10Years

>10Years

Upon correlating the number of years in the

dental profession with extracurricular activities

pursued regularly using Pearson’s correlation. It was

found that majority of the dental professionals have

opted NO. The number of dental professionals who

prefer to take part in other extracurricular activities

are 48 individuals out of 120 individuals. The people

who followed their passion were majorly in the

group of 5-10years nearly 20 individuals out of 48

CONTINUING

REGULARLY

5-10

>10

YES

JIDAM/Chennai/Volume:7/Issue:3/Pages 85 - 90 / July- Sept 2020

Sanjana et Al: Hobbies And Extracurricular Activities Practiced Among Dentists And Medical

Practitioners In Chennai – A Cross-Sectional Study

positive response. The correlation coefficient was

positively correlated 0.012 which showed a weak

positive correlation proving that the dentists who

balanced between profession and extracurricular

activities outperform the people who did not take

part in extracurricular activities.

TABLE 5 (Correlation of duration of work hours
per day with involvement in extracurricular
activities)

Upon correlating using Pearson’s correlation

test, the duration of work hours per day with

involvement in extracurricular activities, the number

of people who answered positively are 48 individuals.

Out of these 30 individuals belonged to the 5-10years

group. This shows that working less or more has a

significant impact the extracurricular activities to a

negative correlation. (-0.047)

DISCUSSION:

In the current scenario, it’s difficult to strike

a balance between leading a successful medical

profession as well as pursuing their favoured hobbies/

EA’s. This is seen by the declining trend of medical

practitioners who drop their hobbies to maintain a

full-fledged profession centric lifestyle

Stress develops at a very early stage from the

beginning of medical or dental profession as a student.

Hence our study is mainly compared with the stress

level and importance of hobbies and extracurricular

activities amongst dental and medical students which

eventually would have led to a monotonous lifestyle

even after becoming practitioner. In a study which

evaluated the stress level amongst students in medical

college, it was found that the majority (62.3%) of

students had high levels of cynicism (n=155) and

58.6% had high levels of emotional exhaustion

(n=146), and 60.2% had low levels of professional

efficacy (n=150)

. Heath JR et al in their study found

that there was high stress level among Malaysian

dental students due to the fear of failure in a course

ranking as the top stressor and the demands of the

course reflected on the lack of time for relaxation and

reduced holidays, particularly amongst the third and

the fourth years students, respectively

As this study aimed at inculcating the

importance of the practice of hobbies and

extracurricular activities amidst the stressful life lead

by the dentists and medical practitioners today, it was

found that professionals who had been working for

more than 5-10 years in their field for more than 5

hours a day failed to involve themselves into any type

of hobby or extracurricular activity. Whereas people

working less than 5 hours a day had more amount of

involvement in extracurricular activities like Sports

and Arts.

Mostly students get engaged in EAs to shape

personality and develop transferable skills, whereas

other may have more strategic purposes to flourish

resumes

. Upon asking them whether they were

continuing their activities regularly despite their

stressful professional life, the results were found

that many were unable to continue them on a regular

basis giving time constraints as the main reason.

An interesting finding of this study revealed

that although time constraints was enlisted as the

main factorial for compromising in their participation

in hobbies and extracurricular activities, many were

concerned in rescheduling their time to change their

lifestyle which would give them a better opportunity

to involve themselves more in activities and hobbies.

In another study it was proved that older doctors have

lower levels of burnout and psychological distress

than younger doctors as years of practice generally

lead to increased confidence in the role of doctor

with greater life experience and clinical wisdom that

brought a good doctor– patient relationship

NUMBER OF

HOURS OF

WORK

EXPOSURE

EXTRACURRICULAR

ACTIVIES PURSUED

CORRE

LATION

COEFFI

CIENT

YES

<5Hours

-0.047

5-10Hours

>10Hours

JIDAM/Chennai/Volume:7/Issue:3/Pages 85 - 90 / July- Sept 2020

Sanjana et Al: Hobbies And Extracurricular Activities Practiced Among Dentists And Medical

Practitioners In Chennai – A Cross-Sectional Study

As already mentioned that hobbies are

different from extracurricular activities, quite a

number of dentists and medical practitioners enlisted

‘listening to music, travelling and reading books’

as their main hobbies in their past-time for pleasure

and relaxation. The study also revealed that majority

didn’t want to seek new hobbies even if they didn’t

have any. Music related activities and physical

activities had better burnout outcomes by reducing

anxiety, depression and perceived stress in Jawad

Fares’ study

Frustration being the main drawback which

one gets when he/she is leading a stressful life,

engaging in hobbies and extracurricular activities has

significantly seen to reduce their stress and depression

level. In Lionelle et al’s study

, about 50.2% of

health care professionals reported having some

health problem the most commonly reported were;

headaches (16.9%), anxiety (15.8%), hypertension

(15.6%) and problems in the lumbar spine (14.0%).

In this study, majority of them have responded saying

participation in hobbies and extracurricular activities

lowered their frustration level drastically and that

they feel exuberant while pursuing them.

• Furthermore, this study disclosed that a lot of

dentists and medical practitioners have attended

competitions related to their hobbies and

extracurricular activities.

• This study high-lighted mainly on the involvement

by the dentists and medical practitioners in

hobbies and extracurricular activities and it was

found significant that,

• Majority of them who engaged in activities were

continuing them regularly.

• They also wished to reschedule their time to

participate effectively in hobbies and activities.

CONCLUSION:

This novel study thus concludes that the

percentage of dentists and medical practitioners who

engaged themselves in hobbies and extracurricular

activities are indubitably high. Whilst there are many

research studies being published based on the stress

levels amongst medical students, there is no literature

published equally in comparison to this study which

unveiled the importance of seeking hobbies and other

activities amongst dental and medical practitioners.

Additionally, “Hobby Hour” could be embedded in

the dental and medical curriculum so that students

will have continued practice of their activities at their

college level itself, which might have a better impact

on their continuation even in their professional life.

Thus this study clearly highlights the profound

benefits of practicing hobbies and extracurricular

activities and its beneficial impacts on dentist’s and

medical practitioner’s lifestyle to overcome stress

and pressure.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT:

• We would like to thank all the practitioners who

participated in the study

FINANCIAL SUPPORT AND
SPONSORSHIP:

Nil

CONFLICTS OF INTEREST:

There are no conflicts of interest.

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