Quality of Life and Its Influence on the Academic Performance of Medical Laboratory Students in Wyoming

Study Design

This present investigation is a cross-sectional, descriptive study.

Setting and Sample

This study was conducted at a university and college in Wyoming, exclusively offering the associate in MLT and bachelor of science in MLS. The curricula of both programs entail clinical rotations in clinical laboratory affiliates as well as in-house advanced clinical practicums at teaching laboratories. Questionnaires were distributed to 44 medical laboratory students, the total student population in the MLS and MLT programs, who were recruited to participate in this study, giving a response rate of 100%.

Ethical Consideration

The Institutional Review Board of the University of Wyoming issued review exemption and approved the conduct of this study. Moreover, the program directors of the MLT and MLS programs reviewed and approved the study protocol, and the protocols in conducting research at both institutions were observed up to the completion of the study. Questionnaires with an attached cover letter explaining the details of the survey were distributed to respondents, and they were reassured that they could decline to participate in this study without any detrimental consequences. Respondents gave verbal permissions before receiving the questionnaires. Confidentiality of the identity of the participants and the results was strictly enforced. The entire data collection process did not entail any compensation. Permission was sought to use the English version of the World Health Organization Quality of Life (WHOQOL)-BREF.

Instrument

This study used a 3-page questionnaire as the data gathering tool. The first section of the questionnaire included the GPA scores, gender, and year level of the respondents. The second section consisted of the survey for measuring the QOL (Appendix A). The QOL of the medical laboratory students was assessed with the WHOQOL-BREF.^24,25 The WHOQOL-BREF is the short version of the WHOQOL-100 scale.^24,25 Widely accepted and translated into multiple languages, this instrument contains a set of conveniently simple QOL measures regarding the 4 domains, namely physical health, psychological health, social relations, and environment. These 4 domains consisted of 24 separate parameters with the physical health, psychological health, social relations, and environment domains containing 7, 6, 3, and 8 parameters, respectively. Based on the scoring system of 0–100, responses of the respondents were recorded. Higher scores represent a better QOL in each dimension. The scale has been utilized in measuring QOL, and its validity and reliability have been previously established.^24,25

Data Collection

Data collection was conducted between January and March 2019. The questionnaires were given to the respondents during their on-campus laboratory sessions. Before the respondents began answering the survey questions, the researchers described the purpose of the study and gave instructions on how to answer the questionnaire survey. The respondents were given 20–25 minutes to complete the survey questions and were directed to place completed questionnaires into envelopes and seal them to reassure anonymity. The respondents put the sealed enveloped on the front table of the lab room.

Statistical Analysis

Data analyses were completed with SPSS v. 22.0 (IBM Corp., Armonk, New York, USA). Frequency counts and percentages were utilized for the GPA scores, gender, and year level demographics of the respondents. The QOL of the medical laboratory students was computed with means and standard deviations. To determine the correlation of the QOL of the medical laboratory students to their academic performance, Pearson’s Product-Moment Correlation was employed. The level of significance was set at 0.05.

Environmental Domain

Results of this study indicated that the respondents reported the highest QOL in the environmental domain. One requirement for admission to the MLT or MLS program is proof of health insurance, reaffirming that these students have access to health care services. Along with financial resources, most of the medical laboratory students were employed to support their college education aside from the availability of multiple scholarship opportunities from benefactors and government aids. This finding is in contrast with a study that determined financial difficulty is common among medical students around the world.²⁶ The high QOL of the respondents is inconsistent with studies conducted in other countries, where the environmental domain was ranked second, third, or even last.^6,13,14

Social Relations Domain

Interestingly, of all the 4 domains of QOL, only social relations have a moderately positive correlation to the academic performance of the medical laboratory students. This implies that these students regard personal relationships, sexual satisfaction, and social support as impactful to their academic success. Among undergraduates, social support provides vital security in the university.²⁷ Social support is perceived to be readily available social resources shared by individuals or organizations that are willing to help.²⁸ In this present study, the medical laboratory students tended to gain friends and develop a study group in complying with their assignments and projects. One qualitative research indicated the reliance of college students on their friends and classmates in forming study groups and sharing of assignments.²⁹ Another study identified peer support as an effective strategy in coping with school-related problems among college students. The family provides emotional support but not a crucial instrumental support.³⁰ Conversely, qualitative evidence strongly suggests that family support is one of the most influencing factors in achieving high academic success in medical students.²⁹

Multiple studies previously conducted reported that support provided by family and peers is related to college academic performance.^31,32 However, college students perceived that peer support is more influential to their academic success.³⁰ In another study involving preclinical medical students, their QOL in the social domain is directly associated with their GPA, which is essential in preparing them for future roles as physicians as well as in adhering to the principle of a good doctor-patient relationship.⁶ This finding suggests that the positive relationship of the QOL in the social domain among the medical laboratory students and their academic performance is vital for their clinical laboratory practice after completion of the programs.

Psychological Health Domain

In regard to the psychological domain, the findings of this study are dissimilar with studies that investigated the association of psychological health factors, such as anxiety, depression, and emotional intelligence, to the academic performance of students.^33,34 Additionally, a previous study negated the finding of this study and reported that a 5-point increase in the psychological health of students resulted in 1-point improvement in their GPAs.⁶ The authors deduced that there are limited studies that examine the items in the psychological domain of the QOL tool by the WHO; thus, more investigations could be conducted.

Physical Health Domain

Notably, the physical health was evaluated the poorest QOL domain. The majority of the medical laboratory students in this study were balancing their education with significant work and family obligations, resulting in increased daily workload and deprivation of adequate sleep. In turn, these circumstances would further contribute to fatigue and loss of energy. MLS and MLT programs entail heavy academic workload, which affects the physical health of the students. A study among preclinical students reported that physical health was evaluated as their poorest domain.⁶

The result of this current investigation is parallel to a study in health science graduate students, which revealed that a significant effect of physical health to their GPAs does not exist.³⁵ Instead, commitment and hard work were identified as influential factors of academic performance.³⁶ However, a past study concluded that well-performing students academically scored better in the physical domain compared with the average counterparts.³⁷ In a US university based on a survey in Baccalaureate students, those with higher GPAs were more involved in physical activities than those with lower GPAs.³⁸

In the present study, the QOL of the medical laboratory students in the environmental, psychological health, and physical health domains is noncorrelated to their academic performance. The medical laboratory students perceived that these 3 domains do not influence their academic achievement in the college or university. This result is not consistent with research conducted at a larger university in the United States, where an improvement in the environment through physical activities, such as leisure and recreation, resulted in better academic achievement of the students.³⁸ Moreover, another study did not support the result of this research in that it affirmed the positive relationship between the environment and the preclinical students’ GPAs.⁶

Despite the results of this research indicating no association between the environmental, physical, and psychological domains of QOL and the academic performance of the medical laboratory students in Wyoming, the respondents exhibited excellent satisfaction in all areas surveyed.

Limitations of the Study

This study was conducted at only 1 site utilizing students from a university-based MLS program and a college-based MLT program. This limited the sample size as well as the generalizability of the study. Correlations between first-, second-, third-, and fourth-year students with the QOL were not performed, and so student maturity and other covariants were not considered making data analysis cautious.