Impact of Intra-Lecture Physical Exercise on the Learning Outcomes of Medical Students

Purpose: Literature suggests that physical exercise can improve learning. To evaluate the impact of physical exercise during lectures on the learning outcomes of 1st-year male students at the College of Medicine, King Saud Bin Abdulaziz University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Method: 60 students from the College of Medicine, King Saud Bin Abdulaziz University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, were included in this study. These students were divided into two groups: A control group (n = 30) and an intervention group (n = 30). The students first completed pretests before joining a lecture. Then, during the lecture, the intervention group was asked to perform physical exercises every 10 min, for a duration of 1 min, while the control group remained seated. A posttest was administered after the lecture. Using a significance level of 0.05, the paired-tests were used to compare the exam results of the participant groups between pre and posttest scores. The study also compared the mean values of students’ posttest scores for both groups. Results: There were significant differences (p < 0.05) in the posttest scores between the intervention and control groups. The intervention group's posttest scores had a higher mean value compared to the control group's. This was observed despite the pretest scores showing no significant differences between the intervention control groups (p > 0.05). The results show that physical exercise during lectures can help to improve the learning outcomes of medical students.