Health-related quality of life of medical students at the Federal University of Uberlândia

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 0.8) 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 0,8) foram encontrados na comparação do terceiro ano com os ingressantes nos domínios estado geral de saúde, vitalidade e saúde mental, Estudantes com sintomas depressivos obtiveram escores menores em todos os domínios e componentes do SF-36 em comparação com os estudantes sem sintomas depressivos (p< 0,01). Independentemente da presença de sintomas depressivos, os estudantes do segundo, terceiro e quarto anos tiveram prejuízo na QVRS em relação ao grupo de ingressantes e do primeiro ano no domínio vitalidade (p< 0,01). Estudantes do sexo feminino apresentaram escores menores em seis domínios e no componente mental do SF-36 em comparação com o sexo masculino (p< 0,01). As mulheres sem sintomas depressivos também apresentaram escores menores nos domínios capacidade funcional, dor e aspectos emocionais (p< 0,01). Concluiu-se que a transição do ciclo básico para o clínico (terceiro ano) - conforme o modelo curricular tradicional - representa uma fase de importante prejuízo na QVRS dos estudantes. Além disso, os estudantes com sintomas depressivos e do sexo feminino apresentam um maior impacto negativo na QVRS