A cross-sectional study to assess happiness and its correlates among medical undergraduates and interns of Bangalore Medical College and Research Institute, Bengaluru, India

ABSTRACT Happiness is the fundamental goal of a human being. Medical students and Interns are less happy when compared to others, this may be due to their hectic academic schedule and unpredictable long hours of work. Objectives: To assess happiness and its correlates among medical undergraduates and interns in Bangalore Medical College & Research Institute, Bengaluru. Materials/Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among medical undergraduates and interns during the period of • 410 participants are selected by Stratified Random Sampling. Happiness was assessed by the Oxford Happiness Questionnaire. The data collected was entered in MS Excel and analysed using SPSS 26.0. Results: Mean Happiness score is found to be 3.6 ± 0.545. Out of 410 participants, 274(67%) participants are in the happy group and 136(33%) of the participants are in the unhappy group. Factors such as Gender, Year of study, Socio Economic Status and Type of stay found to have statistically significant association with happiness. Conclusion: One in 3 medical students were found to be unhappy. The study revealed that differences in happiness can be based on Gender, Year of study, Socio Economic Status and Type of stay.