An Exploratory Study of Quality of Life and Its Relationship with Academic Performance among Students in Medical and other Health Professions

Vijay Kumar Chattu; Pradeep Kumar Sahu; Neela Seedial; Gerlisa Seecharan; Amanda Seepersad; Melina Seunarine; Shivanna Sieunarine; Kahamaron Seymour; Samantha Simboo; Arissa Singh

doi:10.3390/medsci8020023

An Exploratory Study of Quality of Life and Its Relationship with Academic Performance among Students in Medical and other Health Professions

Med Sci (Basel). 2020 Jun 9;8(2):23. doi: 10.3390/medsci8020023.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON M5S 1A8, Canada.
² Occupational Medicine Clinic, St. Michael's Hospital, Toronto, ON M5C 2C5, Canada.
³ Institute of International Relations, The University of the West Indies, St. Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago.
⁴ Centre for Medical Sciences Education, Faculty of Medical Sciences, The University of the West Indies, St. Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago.
⁵ Department of Clinical Medical Sciences, Faculty of Medical Sciences, The University of the West Indies, St. Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago.

Abstract

Quality of life (QOL) is a broader concept which represents experiences, states, appraisals, behaviors, capacities and emotional reactions to circumstances. The study aimed to evaluate the differences in various domains of QOL among the students of five schools (medicine, dentistry, veterinary medicine, pharmacy and nursing) and an optometry unit in the Faculty of Medical Sciences, Trinidad and Tobago. Further, the study evaluated the factors (sociodemographic variables and academic performance) predictive of physical, psychological, social and environment domains of quality of life. The research tool consisted of a validated questionnaire which had two sections; (1) sociodemographics inclusive of students' cumulative grade point average and (2) the shorter version of WHO quality of life (WHOQOL-BREF). The data were transformed into a linear scale and exported into the IBM SPSS version 24 where t-tests, one-way ANOVA and stepwise regression were performed. Of the total 535 participants, most 383 (71.6%) were females. While comparing the differences in the domains of QOL that existed based on the schools (professions) they were enrolled, significant differences were recorded for physical (p < 0.05), psychological (p < 0.05) social (p < 0.05) and environmental domains (p < 0.05). Though the domains of physical health, psychological health and environment showed a significant association with the academic performance of students, the social domain had no such relationship. The overall quality of life has a positive connection with the academic performance of students in medical and health professions. Therefore, universities and all stakeholders involved in health professions need to play a critical role to ensure the students in health professions maintain a high QOL. At the same time, there is a great need for extra attention for students who showed poor academic performance in the previous semester to bring them on track.

Keywords: WHO; academic performance; dentistry; ethnicity; grade point average (GPA); medical sciences; optometry; pharmacy; quality of life (QOL); veterinary medicine.