Qualidade de vida relacionada à saúde dos estudantes do curso de medicina da Universidade Federal de Uberlândia

Abstract

The need for curricular changes directed to the graduation of health professionals able to promote human&#8223;s health in its holistic meaning has stimulated great interest in medical students&#8223; mental health and health-related quality of life (HRQL). This study aimed at assessing the HRQL of medical students from the first to the sixth year of training through the Medical Outcomes Study 36-Item Short-Form Health Survey (SF-36). Students from the first to the sixth year of medical training at the Federal University of Uberlândia were asked to answer a sociodemographic questionnaire, the SF-36 and the Beck Depression Inventory (IDB) by self-application. Cronbach&#8223;s coefficient was calculated to determine the SF-36 reliability. Students and freshmen were compared according to demographics, SF-36 scores were compared according to the year in training, the presence of depressive symptoms, gender and the fact of living with or without relatives (Mann-Whitney or Kruskal-Wallis). SF-36 scores were also correlated to family income (Spearman coefficient). The effect size (ES) was calculated to determine the magnitude of the differences among groups and freshmen or first-year students. 352 students and 38 freshmen were enrolled in this study. Cronbach&#8223;s alpha varied form 0.66 to 0.89 to SF-36 domains. Freshmen&#8223;s mean age was 19.1 years (+ 1.9) and students&#8223; mean age was 22.3 (+ 2.42). Most of students were female (61.6%) and single (96.6%). Students had a prevalence of depressive symptoms of 36.3% whereas freshmen had a prevalence of 15.7% (p = 0.01). Scores from third and forth-year students were lower than freshmen and first-year students&#8223; scores in mental and physical domains (p< 0.01). Big effect sizes (ES> 0.8) were detected in comparisons between third-year students and freshmen in global health, vitality and mental health. Students with depressive symptoms had lower scores in all domains and summary components of SF-36 when compared to students without depressive symptoms (p< 0.01). Independently on the presence of depressive symptoms, second-, third- and forth-year students had an impairment on HRQL in vitality when compared to freshmen and first-year students (p< 0.01). Female students without depressive symptoms also had an impairment in physical functioning, body pain and role limitations due to emotional problems (p< 0.01). These results may lead to the conclusion that the transition from basic sciences to clinical training (third year) according to traditional curricular tracks represents a phase of important impairment of medical students&#8223; HRQL. Moreover, students with depressive symptoms and females had a higher impairment on HRQL.