Comparative Analysis of Self-Assessed Health of Medical University Students

Introduction: Studying in higher school is associated with increased intensity of impact of various adverse factors, the combination of which can cause depletion of physiological reserves of the body. Monitoring the health status of students allows timely detection and correction of emerging deviations. Objective: To establish the health status of medical university students in the process of learning. Materials and methods: In 2022–2023, we conducted a questionnaire-based survey of 1,587 students aged 17 to 25 years to analyze their physical development indicators, incidence and prevalence rates. A 36-item short form survey instrument (SF-36) was used to determine their self-rated health. Results: Most students had deviations in physical development largely related to underweight in the girls (21.0 %) and overweight in the boys (18.8 %). Obesity was detected in 4.8 % of the male respondents. 3.9 % of the girls and 1.8 % of the boys reported having acute respiratory infections five or more times a year while 24.2 % of the boys and 11.4 % of the girls had chronic diseases. 55.9 % of the boys and 40.5 % of the girls rated their health as excellent and very good. Conclusions: Health deterioration and deviations in physical development observed in the students by the time of graduation necessitate additional studies of factors that can have a negative impact on their health.