A student-run exercise physiology clinic in Australia: who and what do we see?

A student-run exercise physiology clinic in Australia: who and what do we see?

Introduction: University health clinics are established to provide clinical placement opportunities for student health professionals and service local communities. Although students benefit from these clinics, analyses on client health outcomes following exercise interventions are scarce. Individuals living in areas of socioeconomic disadvantage are at higher risk of poorer health outcomes and may lack access to health services. The purpose of this study was to: 1) assess the reach of a student-run exercise physiology clinic servicing communities with low socioeconomic indices in Queensland, Australia; 2) identify the health status of clients from the clinic; and 3) determine linear relationships between disease risk factors, physical activity and performance markers.

Methods:
We analysed data from a convenience sample comprised of clients from a student-run exercise physiology clinic in Ipswich, Queensland, Australia. Data from clients (n=148) who attended the clinic from 2018–2022 were analysed, including demographic details, referral source, main complaint, and other clinical measures (e.g., anthropometric variables, blood pressure, muscular strength, and physical activity levels). Baseline tests and subsequent clinical services were administered by third- and fourth-year exercise science and clinical exercise physiology students and supervised by accredited exercise physiologists.

Results:
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Clients were 19 to 91 years old (median: 68 years) and predominantly women (69.6%) from Ipswich (60.1%). Most were referred by a family member or friend (29.3%) or by a specialist/allied health professional (25.6%) to address their primary complaint: orthopaedic (48%), cardiovascular (16.9%), cancer (14.2%), metabolic (8.8%), neurological (8.1%) or pulmonary (3.4%) condition. Most clients (35.2%) reported ≤3 comorbidities. Clients were obese (41.2%) and 61.7% accrued less than 150 minutes of physical activity each week. Inverse correlations were observed between cardiovascular risk factors (e.g., BMI, systolic blood pressure) and performance measures (e.g., aerobic fitness and balance) (r=-0.27–0.30, pb0.05).

Discussion:
The findings suggest that a student-run exercise physiology clinic offers broad reach to local communities in terms of client demographics, place of residence and ailments. Overall, clients from this clinic were older adults
diagnosed with at least one chronic condition, on multiple medications, and deconditioned, and expected to benefit from exercise physiology services. Given the client sample, these individuals are likely to gain significant health benefits obtained from exercise services delivered in our student-run clinic, which will be analysed in future studies. The planned analyses will uncover the cost-benefit of a student-run clinic offer a relatively cheap alternative servicing a low socioeconomic area.

Our findings may not be generalisable to other populations, as it was a convenience sample. Further, participant, recall and/or researcher bias may have influenced the cohort composition and outcomes measures.

Impact/Application to the field:
Our findings contribute to the literature pertaining to the reach and client demographics of those who received exercise physiology treatment at a student-run clinic in a low socio-demographic area in Australia. Not only will these data serve as valuable teaching resource for our students, but they encourage future studies examining the effectiveness of student-run exercise physiology services on important health parameters, which are currently underway.

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