A cross-sectional study on homesickness among the first year medical students of a medical college in South India
Journal Title: Medpulse International Journal of Community Medicine - Year 2018, Vol 6, Issue 2
Abstract
Background: India’s education levels are improving and an increasing number of students are leaving the comforts of their home to pursue a higher education. The transition to college can be an exciting new experience, but intense homesickness can create a difficult or even unsustainable situation. Despite various efforts, counselling centres is still not a norm in most institutes in the country. Majority of the students in a medical college are from distant places. Thus they may be susceptible to homesickness. Objective: To study the prevalence of homesickness and factors influencing it among first year medical students was undertaken in a medical college situated in south India. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out among the first year MBBS students Between January- February 2017. A modified version of the Homesickness Questionnaire (HQ) initially developed by Archer et al was used to measure homesickness. 93 students residing in the hostel were included in the study. Results: In our study, age of the participants ranged from 17 to 20 years and there were 54 (58.1%) female students and 39 (41.9%) male students. Out of the 93 students 87 i.e. 93.55% were homesick. Among the students who are homesick, a majority of them, i.e. 58 students (66.66%) were moderately homesick. Higher age i.e. 19 and 20 years was significantly associated with homesickness (pvalue < 0.001). Students whose family is situated more than 500 km were more likely to be homesick (p-value < 0.001). There was a weak, but significant negative correlation between homesickness and academic performance. (r = 0.335 and p-value < 0.001). Conclusion: Prevalence of Homesickness is quite high among first year medical students and it has a negative impact on Academic performance. There is urgent need for remedial measures including setting up of student counselling centres in all medical colleges.
Authors and Affiliations
Sudhir B Nelson, Vishnu G Ashok, Gleffi Bensher, Getsy Benita
Keywords
Related Articles
- EP ID EP359274
- DOI -
- Views 163
- Downloads 0
Breaking the silence: Correlates of awareness and usage of emergency contraception amongst youth
Background: Globally 20 million illegal abortions take place every year and out of this 97% occur in developing countries. With decreasing age of menarche and early onset of sexual activity; young people are exposed earl...
Associated with the morbidity of the Bidi workers in village (ChhatarGachh), Kishanganj district
Tobacco consumption is the leading preventable cause of disease, disability and premature death, but little is known about its deleterious effect on the health of workers handling tobacco. Methods: Present study was cond...
Nutritional status of adolescent tribal girls: A community based study
Back ground: Adolescence age group is 10-19 years; according to World Health Organization definition. Adolescent age people feel a sense of independence, but depend on adults for their material needs. This phase of life...
Study of socio-demographic profile of women suffering from urinary incontinence and associated co-morbid conditions in an urban slum in Mumbai
Background: Urinary incontinence (UI) defined by the International Continence Society as the complaint of any involuntary leakage of urine, is a social or hygienic problem. The purpose of this study was to determine the...
Prevalence and risk factors for obesity among high school children: Our experience from UHTC, Khaja Bazar, Gulbarga
Background: The pace and pattern of the spread of the global public health problem of obesity is rapidly replacing the problem of Malnutrition. Most children develop their eating habits, lifestyle and activity pattern du...