FACTORS RELATED TO VOLUNTARY ABSENTEEISM AND ITS RELATIONSHIP WITH ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE IN MEDICAL STUDENTS IN UNIVERSITY OF PANAMA

Abstract

Introduction: Student absenteeism is class non-attendance, while voluntary absenteeism is student absenteeism without a valid excuse. Both phenomena are observed in medical students worldwide, but the behavior of these are unknown in the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Panama. The objectives are to establish the prevalence of voluntary absenteeism, its related factors and the relationship between voluntary absenteeism and the academic index.

Methods and Materials: Descriptive cross-sectional prevalence study in medical students during the basic and preclinical cycles in the University of Panama. The population is conformed by a systematic random sample in conglomerates by semester (p=757, n=255). Statistical analysis was made using Pearson’s X2.

Results: It was found that 75.98% of the students were voluntarily not attending to class and 59.06% were absent mostly prior to an exam; with an augmentation of this percentage as the semester increased. Sleep and study were emphasized among the reasons for absenteeism. We did not find an association between absenteeism and the academic index, but by establishing a cut-off point in the index of 2.0/3.0, it was found that the group with the highest index had less absenteeism.

Conclusion: Voluntary absenteeism in the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Panama has a high prevalence; accentuated as the semester increased. Study and sleep were the most common reasons. Higher academic index students had less voluntary absenteeism if we take a 2.0/3.0 cut-off point.