Effect of physical activity on the academic performance of nursing students of the faculty of health sciences, university of buea and of biaka university institute buea

Background: Physical activity is a crucial component of school curricula as it is suggested to increase the students’ academic performance. This may be applied in the university age group, especially when considering health sciences colleges where higher stress levels are recorded. Aim: Assessing the effect of physical activity on the academic performance of nursing students of the FHS-UB and of BUIB. Materials and methods: An online questionnaire-based cross-sectional study involving 202 students from FHS-UB and BUIB was conducted to identify the level of physical activity and its effect on academic performance of the students. Systematic random sampling was done to enroll participants, the chi square test was used to detect the P-value. Results: Majority of enrolled participants were females (74.3%). 80.2% were engaged in physical activity while 19.8% were not. Majority of the students carried out contact sports.92.0% and 95.0% of students who were engaged in physical activity had improved memory and confidence respectively while 93.0% perceived an improvement in level of social interactions. Students engaged in physical activity had better grade point averages compared to those who were not engaged (P<0.05). Students engaged in physical activity had lesser tendencies to re-sit and it was statistically significant (P=0.0091). 56.8% of students carried out more than one physical activity and had better grade point averages. Conclusion: The nursing students of the Faculty of Health Sciences University of Buea and of Biaka University Institute Buea who were involved in physical activity had improvements in their academic performance compared to those who did not meet up with the physical activity guidelines. Recommendation: The Government should implement the creation of sports centers in health sciences institutions to promote engagement of students in physical activity. Also health sciences Institutions/Universities/Nursing schools should implement physical activity as part of their curriculum not just in a particular semester.