Absenteeism among undergraduate medical students and its impact on academic performance

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Student absenteeism is a major concern for undergraduate medical education training in India. Regular class attendance helps students have a proper understanding of the topic of discussion. This study explores the pattern of absenteeism among medical students and whether absenteeism is associated with their academic performances. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A record-based, cross-sectional study was done by reviewing departmental attendance registers, item cards and marks obtained in exam by 190 students in the community medicine department who had passed their 3 rd professional part 1 examination in 2018. The data was entered and analyzed using SPSS version 16. A descriptive analysis summarizes the pattern of absenteeism and their marks obtained in the semester and professional exam of community medicine. The primary outcome indicator was the 3 rd professional exam marks. The correlation between class absenteeism and other predictors and exam result was analyzed. Regression analysis was done to predict dependence of outcome variable on class attendance and formative examination marks. RESULTS: Overall, female students had better class attendance than male students. There was a positive correlation of lecture class attendance ( r = 0.369) and marks obtained in the 6 th semester exam ( r = 0.717) with the final exam result. Further regression analysis showed final marks had a higher dependence on the 6 th semester examination score (B = 0.669) when compared to lecture class attendance (B = 0.051). CONCLUSION: Although lecture class attendance is an important predictor of final result, this study showed that the 6 th semester marks were a better predictor. This may be due to multiple factors (alternate source of learning, student's motivation, etc.) which require further exploration.

Comparison of student pharmacists’ academic performance with and without required attendance in a pharmacotherapy course

“…Previous research has led to a debate on mandating course attendance for student pharmacists. The association between absenteeism and academic performance has been examined previously (Moore et al, 2008;Stoner & Fincham, 2012;Irwin et al, 2018;Ta et al, 2020;Mitra et al, 2022). While some studies have demonstrated a positive correlation between course attendance and academic performance (Irwin et al, 2018;Ta et al, 2020;Mitra et al, 2022), others have not (Moore et al, 2008;Stoner & Fincham, 2012).…”

Students’ perspective on absenteeism: a cross-sectional study among students at government medical colleges of Western Maharashtra

“…3 Several studies have been conducted to explore reasons for absenteeism, which showed lack of subject matter interest, poor teaching strategies, unfavorable learning environment class and examination schedule, quality of teaching materials, assessment methods, lifestyle-related pressures and poor relations with lecturers. 4 Lecture contents have become more accessible in the form of slides, videos, audios over the internet for self-learning purpose, which may contribute to the absenteeism. 4 In this study we are trying to understand students' perspective regarding attendance and the curriculum.…”

“…4 Lecture contents have become more accessible in the form of slides, videos, audios over the internet for self-learning purpose, which may contribute to the absenteeism. 4 In this study we are trying to understand students' perspective regarding attendance and the curriculum. This study certainly tries to bridge the communication gap between students and teachers.…”