Purpose: Despite the significant impact of COVID-19 on mental health among university students, data on the related quality of life (QoL) are lacking in this group of the population. This study aimed to evaluate quality of life (QoL) and determine its association with various factors and social support among university students during the COVID-19 pandemic after the end of movement lockdown. Methods: This was an online, cross-sectional study recruited a total of 316 participants. Participants were administered a self-reported questionnaire to gather data on demographic, personal, clinical and psychological characteristics; the 21-item depression, anxiety and stress scale (DASS-21) to assess the severity of their depressive, anxiety and stress symptoms; the multidimensional scale of perceived social support (MSPSS) to assess the degree of social support; and the World Health Organization quality of life-BREF (WHOQoL-BREF) to assess QoL. Results: The psychological and social QoL scores were lower than the non-pandemic norms of the general population, while the physical health and environmental QoL scores were comparable. After adjusting for relevant demographic, personal, and clinical variables, religious coping; greater number of hours of online classes attended; and greater social support from family, friends and significant others were found to be significantly associated with higher QoL among the participants. Frustration because of study disruption, living in areas with a high prevalence of COVID-19 cases, and a higher severity of depressive and stress symptoms were significantly associated with lower QoL. Conclusion: COVID-19 impaired the QoL of university students even after the movement lockdown was lifted.

Background: In Malaysia, the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) began to spread in March 2020, and the infection has not been fully controlled since then. Despite the significant impact of COVID-19 on mental health among university students, data on the related quality of life (QoL) are lacking in this group of the population. This study aimed to evaluate QoL and determine its association with various factors and social support in a cohort of Malaysian university students during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: This online, cross-sectional survey recruited 316 university students from the medical faculties of two Malaysian public universities. They were administered a self-reported questionnaire to gather data on demographic, personal, clinical and psychological characteristics; the 21-item depression, anxiety and stress scale (DASS-21) to assess the severity of their depressive, anxiety and stress symptoms; the multidimensional scale of perceived social support (MSPSS) to assess the degree of social support; and the World Health Organization quality of life-BREF (WHOQoL-BREF) to assess QoL. Results: The psychological and social QoL scores were lower than the non-pandemic norms of the general population, while the physical health and environmental QoL scores were comparable. Religious coping; greater number of hours of online classes attended; and greater social support from family, friends and significant others were found to be significantly associated with higher QoL among the participants. Older age, frustration because of loss of daily routine and study disruption, living in areas with a high prevalence of COVID-19 cases, a history of pre-existing medical illness, and a higher severity of depressive and anxiety symptoms were significantly associated with lower QoL. Conclusion: COVID-19 impaired the QoL of university students even after the movement control order (MCO) was lifted. Our findings indicated the pivotal role of online mental and physical healthcare services to improve the QoL of university students during the uncertain time of the COVID-19 pandemic.