QUALITY OF LIFE OF MEDICAL STUDENTS IN PUBLIC SECTOR UNIVERSITIES OF PAKISTAN

Back to Page Authors: Ayema Haque, Sobia Mansoor, Farheen Malik, Jawad Ahmed, Adiya Haque, Zeba Haque

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Keywords: WHOQOL-BREF, medical students, quality of life, domains

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Abstract: Objectives: The aim of our research is to measure the quality of life (QOL) of medical students undertaking MBBS course in Semester VS Annual systems and to assess the variations in QOL of medical students from First to final years. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted at Dow Medical College, Sindh Medical College and Karachi Medical and Dental College from October 2017 to October 2018. WHOQOL-BREF questionnaire was used consisting of 26 items. The student sample was defined on the basis of their current year of study and the educational system they are exposed to. SPSS v.20 was used to analyze the data. Kruskal Wallis test and Mann- Whitney U test was used to compare scores among various years of Medical study and between different curricular systems respectively. Results: Out of 404 students, females were 81.3%, males were 18.3%. Mean age of the sample was 21.23. According to years of study, significant differences were observed in physical health and overall QOL domain (p<0.05), with 3rd-year students having the highest scores. Comparing Annual and Modular systems, the latter was found to have a better QOL with a mean of 83.34. The overall QOL of students in Clinical years was found to be significantly better (p<0.05) than the students in preclinical years. Conclusion: We conclude that WHOQOL-BREF is a reliable tool for accessing the QoL of medical students. Institutions with Modular system showed a better score. Our study shows an overall impairment in the Qol of medical students.

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