Medical students' health-related quality of life: A comparative study

Abstract

Background/Aim. Previous studies on medical students' subjective perception of health and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) showed inconclusive results. Moreover, there are no published studies to compare HRQoL of medical students to non-medical university students. The aim of the study was to assess subjective perception of health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in medical students' sample, to compare it with non-medical university stu-dents and to ascertain predictors of better perception of HRQoL in medical students. Methods. Scores of all domains on the Mental and Physical Component Summary subscales and total score of the Short Form Health Survey (SF-36), used for assessment of HRQoL in samples of 561 medical and 332 non-medical university students were assessed and compared. In addition, linear regression to identify predictors of better perception of mental and physical components of HRQoL and overall HRQoL in the sample of medical students was used. The dependant variables were subscores and total score with the SF- 36, and independent variables were certain sociodemographic and academic characteristics of the students. Results. Medical students had statistically significantly higher scores on the Mental Component Summary and total SF-36 score compared to non-medical students. Linear regression analysis demonstrated that higher scores of Physical Component Summary were associated with age, male sex and the year of studies. The Mental Component Summary were associated with age, male sex, the year of studies and marital status. The total SF-36 score was associated with age, male sex and the year of studies. Conclusion. Medical students perceive their health much better than other university students do, but female, older and second grade medical students have worse perception of their HRQoL. Those points should be potential target areas for specific prevention and treatment in order to achieve better HRQoL.

Uvod/Cilj. Dosadašnje studije subjektivne percepcije zdravlja i kvaliteta života povezanog sa zdravstvenim stanjem (HRQoL) studenata medicine pokazale su kontradiktorne rezultate. Štaviše, ne postoje objavljene studije koje su poredile HRQoL studenata medicine i studenata ne- medicinskih fakulteta. Cilj ove studije bio je da se proceni subjektivna percepcija HRQoL na uzorku studenata medicine, da se uporedi sa percepcijom HRQoL studenata ne- medicinskih fakulteta i da se utvrde prediktori bolje percepcije HRQoL kod studenata medicine. Metode. Uzorak za istraživanje obuhvatio je 561 studenta medicine i 332 studenta ne-medicinskih fakulteta Univerziteta u Beogradu. Istraživanje je obavljeno uz pomoć Short Form Health Survey (SF-36) upitnika koji procenjuje mentalnu i fizičku komponentu, kao i ukupan skor subjektivne procene kvaliteta života vezanog za zdravstveno stanje. Upoređeni su skorovi sa zbirne skale i supskala dve grupe studenata. Pored toga, korišćena je i linearna regresija da bi se procenili prediktori boljeg sagledavanja ukupnog skora i mentalne i fizičke komponente HRQoL na uzorku studenata medicine. Zavisne varijable bile su supskorovi i ukupan skor sa SF- 36 upitnika, a nezavisne varijable sociodemografske i akademske karakteristike ispitanika. Rezultati. Studenti medicine imali su statistički značajno više skorove na supskali mentalnog zdravlja i na ukupnom skoru SF-36 upitnika u odnosu na studente ne-medicinskih fakulteta. Linearna regresija pokazala je da su viši skorovi fizičke komponente povezani sa godinama starosti, muškim polom i godinom studija; viši skorovi mentalne komponente povezani sa godinama starosti, muškim polom, godinom studija i bračnim statusom. Ukupan SF-36 skor povezan je sa godinama starosti, muškim polom i godinom studija. Zaključak. Studenti medicine gledaju na svoje zdravstveno stanje mnogo bolje nego studenti ne-medicinskih fakulteta. Ipak, devojke, stariji studenti i studenti druge godine medicine imaju lošiju percepciju svog kvaliteta života koji se vezuje za zdravlje. Ovo bi trebalo da budu fokusi za specifičnu prevenciju i eventualnu terapiju u cilju postizanja boljeg kvaliteta života studenata medicine.