Happiness Status and Related Factors Among Clinic-Medical Students of Prince of Songkla University, 2015

Abstract

Objective: To study the happiness status and related factors among clinic-medical students. Material and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in order to survey all medical students, Faculty of Medicine, Prince of Songkla University in 2015. Questionnaires for demographic data, health, activity, human relationships and Thai Mental Health Indicators-15 were used. Mean, percentage, chi-square, and fisher’s exact test were used toanalyze the data. Results: There were 403 medical students (80.2%) who completed the questionnaires. Of the medical students, 56.3% were female. Mean age was 23 years old; 26.6% had history of drinking alcohol. The significant factors associated with happiness status were medical class, history of drinking, and exercise. Fourth year medical students had a significantly higher happiness status than 5th and 6th year students (p-value<0.001). Medical students who didn’t have history of drinking had a significantly higher happiness status than medical students who had a history of drinking (85.0% and 73.6%, p-value=0.014). Medical students who had a history of exercise had a significantly higher happiness status than medical students who didn’t have a history of exercise (84.5% and 73.7%, p-value=0.024). Conclusion: The significant factors associated with happiness status were medical class, history of drinking alcohol, and exercise. Being in the 6th year of medical school and having a history of drinking were significant factors related to a lower happiness status. History of exercise was a significant factor related to a higher happiness status.

Keywords

• clinic-medical student
• factors
• happiness