Authors
1 Senior Resident, Under CMOH Coochbehar, West Bengal Health Service,West Bengal, India
2 Department of Community Medicine, Bankura Sammilani Medical College and Hospital, Bankura, West Bengal, India
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 3rd 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 3rd 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 6th semester
exam (r = 0.717) with the final exam result. Further regression analysis showed final marks had a
higher dependence on the 6th 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 6th 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.
Keywords
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