Qualidade de vida relacionada à saúde de estudantes do curso de graduação em Enfermagem da Universidade Federal de Uberlândia

Abstract

The process of training nursing students causes stress, anxiety and mental disorders which may impair performing activities pertaining to the curriculum, and compromise the quality of life of future nurses. The purpose of this study was to verify the health-related quality of life (HRQL) of students in the undergraduate nursing school at the Medical School of the Federal University of Uberlandia (FAMED-UFU). In July 2007 two hundred and fifty-six out of 353 (72%) students were enrolled in an exploratory, descriptive, crosssectional study and answered a generic HRQL questionnaire, SF-36, and the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI). The scores obtained from the SF-36 of the first, second, third and fourth year students were compared to each other and to sociodemographic variables. The presence of mood disorders (BDI scores greater than fifteen) was compared to the median of the SF-36 scores. The reliability of the internal consistency of the item was tested by Cronbach s alpha coefficient for the SF-36 domains. The Spearman correlation coefficient was used to determine the correlation between the domains and components of SF-36 and family income. The Mann-Whitney test was used to compare two independent samples and analysis of variance by Kruskal-Wallis posts for comparison between the years of study. The level of significance adopted was p < 0.05. The Cronbach s alpha coefficients obtained from the SF-36 domains were above 0.7, except in the domain of emotional aspects (0.66). Fourth-year students presented lower scores (p<0.05) than those of the other years in the domains of functional capacity, vitality and social aspects, which may be due to the need to write the final course paper, the approaching end of life as a student, and insecurity regarding the job market. Female students presented significantly lower scores in the domains of functional capacity, pain, vitality, social aspects, emotional aspects, mental health and in the mental component, possibly due to physical characteristics and to the accumulation of activities inherent to the female gender. We concluded that undergraduate nursing students at FAMED-UFU presented an impaired HRQL, above all in the fourth-year students, the female students and those with depressive symptoms. Teaching-learning strategies which take into account the well-being of the students and the psychopedagogical care for students with psycho-emotional difficulties should be prioritized by the managers of institutions of higher education.