فهرست نشریات علمی دسترسی آزاد ایران

BACKGROUND: Student absenteeism is a major concern for undergraduate medical educationtraining in India. Regular class attendance helps students have a proper understanding of the topicof discussion. This study explores the pattern of absenteeism among medical students and whetherabsenteeism is associated with their academic performances.MATERIALS AND METHODS: A record‑based, cross‑sectional study was done by reviewingdepartmental attendance registers, item cards and marks obtained in exam by 190 students in thecommunity 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 thepattern of absenteeism and their marks obtained in the semester and professional exam of communitymedicine. The primary outcome indicator was the 3rd professional exam marks. The correlationbetween class absenteeism and other predictors and exam result was analyzed. Regressionanalysis was done to predict dependence of outcome variable on class attendance and formativeexamination marks.RESULTS: Overall, female students had better class attendance than male students. There was apositive correlation of lecture class attendance (r = 0.369) and marks obtained in the 6th semesterexam (r = 0.717) with the final exam result. Further regression analysis showed final marks had ahigher dependence on the 6th semester examination score (B = 0.669) when compared to lectureclass attendance (B = 0.051).CONCLUSION: Although lecture class attendance is an important predictor of final result, thisstudy showed that the 6th semester marks were a better predictor. This may be due to multiplefactors (alternate source of learning, student’s motivation, etc.) which require further exploration.