EVALUATION OF QUALITY OF LIFE AMONG STUDENTS AT REHMAN MEDICAL INSTITUTE USING THE WHOQOL-BREF TOOL

Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the quality of life (QoL) of medical and dental students across four major domains and investigate the impact of age, gender, and academic level on QoL. Methods: In February 2020, a cross-sectional study was carried out at the Rehman Medical Institute, where 620 medical and dental students in years 1 through 5 at Rehman Medical College (RMC) and years 1 through 4 at Rehman College of Dentistry (RCD) made up the study population, The World Health Organization Quality of Life questionnaire (WHOQOL-BREF), which has 26 items, was used as a sample collection tool. Results: The WHOQOL-BREF questionnaire's overall Cronbach's alpha coefficient was 0.81. Students' overall satisfaction with health was 3.81 ± 0.85 (satisfied), and their self-reported QoL mean score was 4.07 ±0.78 (good). The social domain had the lowest quality of life (QoL), while the environmental domain had the highest mean score (67.81 ± 17.39). Compared to male students, female students' impairment in the physical health domain of QoL was significantly greater (p=0.005). Conclusions: Medical schools should implement innovative curricula and provide medical students with the required support to enable them to manage the influencing factors of quality of life. Medical schools must create tailored policies and ensure better learning environments for all of their students, but especially for female students. Keywords: Medical students, Dental Students, Quality of life