College student quality of life before and during the Covid-19 pandemic

Leitón-Espinoza Z.E.; Ñazco G.S.C.; Pérez-Valdez C.L.; Gómez-Luján M.P.; González Y González V.F.; Villanueva-Benites M.E. · Salud Uninorte (2022) · DOI: 10.14482/sun.38.3.614.59

Resumen

Objective: To compare the quality of life of the university student before and during the Covid-19 pandemic. Materials and methods: Descriptive, prospective, comparative. The sample consisted of 390 students from a Peruvian public university. The Mezzich Quality of Life Index (Cronbach’s Al-pha = 0.870) was applied. The data was collected before and during the Covid-19 pandemic. Results: The average age of the students was 19.3 + 1.6 years, 73 % female, 98.7 % single, 90.3 % lived with the family and 87.9% did not work. 24.9 % studied human medicine, 16.7 % nursing, 11.8 % social work and the remaining 46.6 % studied other careers. When com-paring the students’ general quality of life and its dimensions, it was found that during the pandemic, the average scores decreased with statistically significant differences, except for Physical well-being and Social-emotional support. Likewise, there was a decrease in the quali-ty of life in the variable’s occupation, the form of coexistence, and career (p <0.05). Men obtained better quality of life scores except for the Interpersonal Functioning dimension (p <0.05). Conclusions: the quality of life of university students in the Covid-19 pandemic was affec-ted in their personal life and their preparation as future professionals, facing great adaptation challenges, with women being the most affected.

Instituciones: Universidad Nacional de Trujillo; Universidad Nacional de la Amazonía Peruana