Association between lifestyle and school attendance in Japanese medical students

Abstract

Objective: Lifestyle factors are thought to be associated with students’ academic performance. Whether lifestyle factors were associated with medical students’ school attendance was determined.

Design: Cross-sectional design.

Setting: The study group consisted of 157 healthy second-year medical students attending Osaka City University Graduate School of Medicine.

Method: Participants completed a questionnaire dealing with lifestyle and school attendance.

Results: On univariate logistic regression analyses, spending time with family members was more likely, and male gender, skipping breakfast, taking meals irregularly and smoking habit were less likely, to indicate school attendance in medical students. On multivariate logistic regression analyses adjusted for age and gender, spending time with family members was more likely, and skipping breakfast and taking meals irregularly were less likely, to indicate school attendance. In addition, smoking habit had a trend toward a lower likeliness to attend school.

Conclusion: Certain lifestyle factors are associated with school attendance in medical students. Sharing positive lifestyle factors with these students may contribute to a higher incidence of everyday school attendance, or even to a lower incidence of school refusal.