ASSESSMENT OF DIFFERENT FACTORS AFFECTING THE REGULARITY OF UNDERGRADUATE DENTAL STUDENTS OF SHARIF COLLEGE OF DENTISTRY, LAHORE

Abstract

Objectives:This study aimed to find the relationship between different contributing factors affecting student’s regularity in class.
Materials & Methods:A study was conducted at Sharif College of Dentistry, SMDC, Lahore on the undergraduate dental students inclusive of all years, age and gender. Students who had migrated from other institutes or not had been a part of college since last six months were excluded from the study. In this cross sectional study, specially designed questionnaires were distributed among the 195 undergraduate dental students of all four years. The questionnaire consisted of questions on various personal, familial, emotional, social and motivational problems that have an impact on student regularity in college. The data were analyzed using IBM SPSS version23. Chi-square test was used for determining the association between regularity and the factors affecting it, a p-value less than or equal to 0.05 is considered statically significant.
Results:A study was conducted on 195 students of Sharif College of Dentistry. SMDC, Lahore with a male to female ratio of 1:2.5, mean age of 21+S.D 1.398. Fear of being debarred from the final examination was the main driving factor for regularity (93.8%). The irregularity was mainly due to stress and anxiety 39 % and frequent illness 27%. A significant relationship was found between the attendance and familial problems with p<0.001 No significant relationship was seen between the regularity of students, motivational and social problems.
Conclusion:Frequent illness (27%), stress and anxiety (38%) are the main factors affecting the regularity of the students within the class, whereas the fear of being debarred (93%) from the final exam is the main driving force for being regular in class.