Assessment of the Quality of Life of Medical Students

Marija Šmitaitė Assessment of the Quality of Life of Medical Students. Aim. To review literature articles that examine the quality of life of medical students and to summarize the conclusions presented in them. Objectives: 1. To determine what factors have a negative impact on the quality of life of medical students. 2. To determine what factors are associated with a better assessment of the quality of life of medical students. 3. To evaluate the impact of study stage to the quality of life of medical students. Method. Qualitative research - systematic literature review. A computer bibliographic database, PubMed, was used to search for research articles using keywords: "Quality of Life" [Mesh terms] and "Students, Medical" [Mesh terms]. Articles not older than 5 years that met the established selection criteria were analyzed. Results. 207 articles were found. Filter was selected for the year of publication, presenting articles not older than five years. The remaining 82 were thoroughly analysed, summaries were read and 17 articles were included in the study using the established selection criteria. All studies were conducted with medical students using questionnaires to study quality of life: 10 studies analyzed using WHOQOL-BREF questionnaire, 2 studies - SF-36 questionnaires, 3 studies - linear scales, 1 study - Veras-q questionnaire, 1 study - Maslach, PRIME MD and stress questionnaire. Conclusions. Female gender, lack of sleep, internet addiction, time spent traveling to or from university are factors associated with poorer quality of life for medical students. Spiritual, religious beliefs, a supportive learning environment, a high grade point average, resistance, self-care, support from friends, having at least one parent with medical education, physical activity, and optimal BMI are associated with a better quality of life for medical students. Some authors found that study stage influenced the quality of life of medical students, the conclusions of other authors though found no link between the study stage and the quality of life