Correlation of Academic Performance with Student Attendance in Pre-Clinical and Clinical Years of Undergraduate Medical Education

Abstract

Objective: To investigate the correlation between student attendance and academic performance in undergraduate medical education, with a focus on exploring potential similarities or differences in correlation patterns between pre-clinical and clinical years. Study Design:Retrospective cross-sectional, correlational study. Place and Duration of Study: Saidu Medical College Swat Pakistan from 1 March 2018 to 26 November 2020. Materials and Methods: A total of 450 students from preclinical and clinical years were studied. Student attendance and marks obtained during their annual exams were converted to percentage values. To measure the strength of correlation, the Pearson Correlation coefficient was calculated using SPSS version 25. Initially, the correlation coefficient of Pre-clinical and Clinical students was calculated independently, the results were then compared against each other to understand the difference between the two cohorts. Scatter plots and regression analysis were calculated to depict the relation between variables. A p-value < 0.05 was deemed statistically significant. Result: A statistically significant positive correlation between class attendance and academic performance of pre-clinical students was found (r = 0.227, p < 0.001). The mean attendance of Pre-Clinical Students was (86.4) with a standard deviation of SD ± 5.638. Analysis of clinical students revealed a very weak negative but statistically insignificant correlation, (r = -0.037, p < 0.73). Mean attendance was measured to be (83.1) with a standard deviation of SD ± 5.83. Conclusion: This study points to a previously unexplored dissimilarity in the correlation between lecture attendance and academic performance among clinical year as compared with pre-clinical year students, underscoring the dynamic nature of the relationship between attendance and academic performance throughout different phases of medical education. Further research exploring the factors influencing academic performance in clinical years is required to understand the complex interplay between attendance and academic performance.

Keywords

• academic performance
• attendance
• clinical
• correlation
• pre-clinical
• undergraduate medical students.