Purpose: This study aimed to evaluate whether discriminatory episodes occurring in the university environment were associated with dental students' self-perceived overall quality of life and assess the cumulative effect of perceived discriminatory experiences on the overall quality of life.
Methods: In this cross-sectional study, all students enrolled in three Brazilian dental schools were invited to participate in a survey between August and October 2019. The outcome was students' self-perceived quality of life, measured through the overall quality of life item of the World Health Organization-Quality of Life Abbreviated Version (WHOQOL-BREF). Descriptive, bivariate, and multivariable logistic regression analyses (95% confidence intervals and α of 5%) were conducted using RStudio software.
Results: The sample was composed of 732 students (70.2% response rate). The great part was female (66.9%), white or yellow skin color (67.9%), and were children of highly educated mothers. About 68% of the students reported having experienced at least one of the seven discriminatory experiences presented in the questionnaire and 18.1% reported neutral or negative quality of life. In multivariable analyses, it was estimated that students who experienced at least one episode of discrimination were 2.54 times (95% CI: 1.47-4.34) more likely to report worse quality of life than their counterparts who reported no experience of discrimination. There was also a 25% (95% CI: 1.10-1.42) increase in the odds of reporting poorer quality of life for each additional discriminatory experience reported.
Conclusion: Reporting at least one discriminatory situation in the academic environment was associated with worse quality of life among dental students, and a cumulative effect was also noted.
Keywords: cross-sectional studies; dental; perceived discrimination; quality of life; students.
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