Quality of life of students in the first and sixth year of medical school

Abstract

Introduction and Objective: Quality of life and its domains - physical, psychological, social and environmental - defined by the World Health Organization Quality of Life (Whoqol) is an important attribute in the medical course and can be affected, harming students throughout graduation. In this sense, the aim of this study is to compare students’ perception of quality of life at the beginning and end of the medical course (first and sixth years, respectively), to discuss the factors that may influence it and propose measures to improve it. Method: A cross-sectional study carried out with students from the first and sixth year of medicine from EPM-UNIFESP in the 2017 and 2018 classes, using a Whoqol-bref online questionnaire on the REDCAP platform. Statistical analysis of the data was done through software “OpenEpi” and Microsoft Excel. Results: The results showed regular low scores for all domains evaluated in both years, with the psychological domain presenting lower scores in both 2017 and 2018 for the first and sixth years. No statistically significant differences were found between the domains evaluated in the first and sixth year (p>0.05) in 2017, but in the groups of 2018 significant differences (p<0.05) were found due to the lower values ​​presented by sixth year in comparison to the first. Discussion and Conclusion: In this study, median and low results were found for all domains evaluated, especially the psychological ones, both at the beginning and at the end of the medical course, with an important impact on students’ mental health. Factors that include enrollment in the institution, the teaching model of the course and the characteristics of the sixth year can affect the quality of life of these students. Individual and institutional measures are necessary to achieve improvements in the perception of quality of life.