ABSTRACT

Aim:

To investigate the influence of practical clinical applications on physical activity levels of physical therapy students and to reveal the relationships between daily physical activity levels and aerobic endurance indices as well as isokinetic strength.

Methods:

Forty-two subjects were recruited for the study. Total energy expenditure (TEE), resting energy expenditure (REE), active energy expenditure (AEE) and the total number of steps were measured over a 3-d period with using a portable armband. In a second experiment subjects performed a maximal exercise test. Relationships between the energy expenditure levels and the respiratory indices such as peak oxygen uptake and ventilatory threshold and isokinetic strength were examined.

Results:

No significant differences were found in the energy expenditure measurements, ven-tilatory indices and isokinetic test results between junior and intern student groups. Isokinetic strength was highly correlated both with TEE (r=0,61; 0,64) and REE (r=0,80; 0,79). Correlation bet-ween fat free mass (FFM) and aerobic endurance indices were poor (r=0,43; 0,34), although there was a high level association between isokinetic strength and FFM (r=0,81; 0,81).

Conclusion:

Patient-side clinical practice does not lead to an improvement in physical activity levels of students. There are significant relationships between daily physical activity, aerobic en-durance indices and lower extremity isokinetic strength.