Self-reported Quality of Life among Dental Students in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Ab s t r Ac t Introduction: Adverse physical and mental health conditions can affect the quality of life (QoL) and academic performance of undergraduate and postgraduate dental students and dental interns throughout their education. Aim: To evaluate the QoL of undergraduate dental students, interns, and postgraduate dental students using the World Health Organization Quality of Life (WHOQOL)-BREF instrument in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Materials and methods: A cross-sectional study was undertaken among undergraduate dental students, dental interns, and postgraduate dental students from various dental colleges of Kingdom of Saudi Arabia during the first semester of the academic year 2018–19. Information pertaining to the QoL was obtained by using a well-designed WHOQOL–BREF questionnaire, consisting of various domains of the QoL. Results: A total of 518 dental students (UG = 273, DI = 135, PG = 110) belonging to either gender (male = 196 and female = 322) from different academic years participated in this study. The overall Cronbach’s a coefficient of the WHOQOL–BREF questionnaire was 0.793. The highest mean score was found with the social relationships domain (62.14 ± 18.64), while physical health demonstrated the lowest mean score (52.15 ± 12.33). Dental students receiving government sponsorship for their education showed significantly higher mean scores for the psychological (57.88 ± 12.19 vs 53.09 ± 11.97, t = −4.498, p = 0.000) and environmental (62.93 ± 14.54 vs 57.94 ± 13.46, t = −4.043, p = 0.000) domains than the self-sponsored dental students. Similarly, government-sponsored dental students showed significantly higher QoL (3.93 ± 0.75 vs 3.52 ± 0.91, t = −5.678, p = 0.000) and satisfaction with health (3.79 ± 0.79 vs 3.21 ± 0.95, t = −7.509, p = 0.000) compared to the selfsponsored dental students. Conclusion: Dental interns demonstrated high overall QoL and satisfaction with health, while dental students receiving government funding for dental education showed higher scores for psychological health and environmental health domains. There is a need to improve the QoL of the students by considering various measures.