Journal of Oral Health and Community Dentistry

Register      Login

VOLUME 13 , ISSUE 2 ( May-August, 2019 ) > List of Articles

Original Article

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

Salman A Alkallabi, Navin A Ingle, Mohammad A Baseer, Jamal A Alsanea, Sara A AIshammery, Asma S Almeslet

Keywords : Dental interns, Dental students, Postgraduate, Quality of life, Undergraduate, World Health Organization-Quality of life-BREF

Citation Information : Alkallabi SA, Ingle NA, Baseer MA, Alsanea JA, AIshammery SA, Almeslet AS. Self-reported Quality of Life among Dental Students in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. J Oral Health Comm Dent 2019; 13 (2):44-49.

DOI: 10.5005/jp-journals-10062-0045

License: CC BY-NC 4.0

Published Online: 01-12-2019

Copyright Statement:  Copyright © 2019; The Author(s).


Abstract

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 self-sponsored 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.


HTML PDF Share
  1. World Health Organization. Division of Mental Health and Prevention of Substance Abuse. WHOQOL: measuring quality of life. Geneva: World Health Organization; 1997. Available from: http://www.who.int/iris/handle/10665/63482.
  2. Alzahem AM, Van der Molen HT, et al. Stress management in dental students: a systematic review. Adv Med Educ Pract 2014;5:167–176. DOI: 10.2147/AMEP.S46211.
  3. Elani HW, Allison PJ, et al. A systematic review of stress in dental students. J Dent Educ 2014;78(2):226–242.
  4. Basudan S, Binanzan N, et al. Depression, anxiety and stress in dental students. Int J Med Educ 2017;8:179–186. DOI: 10.5116/ijme. 5910.b961.
  5. Hayes A, Hoover JN, et al. Perceived causes of stress among a group of western Canadian dental students. BMC Res Notes 2017;10(1):714. DOI: 10.1186/s13104-017-2979-9.
  6. Alhajj MN, Khader Y, et al. Perceived sources of stress amongst dental students: a multicountry study. Eur J Dent Educ Off J Assoc Dent Educ Eur 2018;22(4):258–271. DOI: 10.1111/eje. 12350.
  7. Al-Sowygh ZH. Academic distress, perceived stress and coping strategies among dental students in Saudi Arabia. Saudi Dent J 2013;25(3):97–105. DOI: 10.1016/j.sdentj.2013.05.002.
  8. Al-Saleh SA, Al-Madi EM, et al. Survey of perceived stress-inducing problems among dental students, Saudi Arabia. Saudi Dent J 2010;22(2):83–88. DOI: 10.1016/j.sdentj.2010.02. 007.
  9. Gorter RC, Freeman R. Burnout and engagement in relation with job demands and resources among dental staff in Northern Ireland. Community Dent Oral Epidemiol 2011;39(1):87–95. DOI: 10.1111/j.1600-0528.2010.00568.x.
  10. Jurkat H, Höfer S, et al. [Quality of life, stress management and health promotion in medical and dental students. a comparative study]. Dtsch Med Wochenschr 1946 2011;136(23):1245–1250. DOI: 10.1055/s-0031-1280544.
  11. Skevington SM, Gunson KS, et al. Introducing the WHOQOL-SRPB BREF: developing a short-form instrument for assessing spiritual, religious and personal beliefs within quality of life. Qual Life Res Int J Qual Life Asp Treat Care Rehabil 2013;22(5):1073–1083. DOI: 10.1007/s11136-012-0237-0.
  12. Krägeloh CU, Kersten P, et al. Validation of the WHOQOL-BREF quality of life questionnaire for general use in New Zealand: confirmatory factor analysis and Rasch analysis. Qual Life Res Int J Qual Life Asp Treat Care Rehabil 2013;22(6):1451–1457. DOI: 10.1007/s11136-012-0265-9.
  13. Andre A, Pierre GC, et al. Quality of Life Among Dental Students: A Survey Study. J Dent Educ 2017;81(10):1164–1170. DOI: 10.21815/JDE.017.074.
  14. Jamali A, Tofangchiha S, et al. Medical students’ health-related quality of life: roles of social and behavioural factors. Med Educ 2013;47(10):1001–1012. DOI: 10.1111/medu.12247.
  15. Zhang Y, Qu B, et al. Quality of life of medical students in China: a study using the WHOQOL-BREF. PloS One 2012;7(11):e49714. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0049714.
  16. Halboub E, Alhajj MN, et al. Perceived Stress among Undergraduate Dental Students in Relation to Gender, Clinical Training and Academic Performance. Acta Stomatol Croat 2018;52(1):37–45. DOI: 10.15644/asc52/1/6.
  17. Mahmoud MA, Fareed M. Assessment of Quality of Life among Medical Students in Saudi Arabia: A Study Based on WHO-QOL-BREF Protocol. Int J Med Res Health Sci 2018;7(10):1–11.
  18. Hannah A, Lim BT, et al. Emotional intelligence and clinical interview performance of dental students. J Dent Edu 2017;81(10):1164–1170. DOI: 10.21815/JDE.017.074.
  19. Rakizadeh E, Hafezi F. Sense of Coherence as a Predictor of Quality of Life Among Iranian Students Living in Ahvaz. Oman Med J 2015;30(6):447–454. DOI: 10.5001/omj.2015.88.
  20. Henning K, Ey S, et al. Perfectionism, the imposter phenomenon and psychological adjustment in medical, dental, nursing and pharmacy students. Med Educ 1998;32(5):456–464. DOI: 10.1046/j.1365-2923.1998.00234.x.
  21. Musser LA, Lloyd C. The relationship of marital status and living arrangement to stress among dental students. J Dent Educ 1985;49(8):573–578.
PDF Share
PDF Share

© Jaypee Brothers Medical Publishers (P) LTD.