ATTENDANCE AND ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE OF MBBS STUDENTS IN COMMUNITY MEDICINE – A RETROSPECTIVE COHORT STUDY

Abstract

Introduction: Student attendance is considered as an important factor contributing to academic performance in Medical education. This becomes all the more relevant in the context of Competency based medical education where clinical contact and skills are necessary to develop competence. Student’s absenteeism is a continuous problem in medical education despite mandatory attendance policies introduced by the universities.

Aim and Objective: To study the effect of class attendance on performance in theory and practical examination in community medicine.

Material and Methods: A Retrospective Cohort study was conducted in the Dept of Community Medicine of Indira Gandhi Government Medical College and Hospital, Nagpur.153 students of 2015 Batch of Third MBBS Part I who appeared in all the three internal assessments of both theory and practical as well as University examinations were included for the study. Theory and practical marks of the internal assessments conducted for the batch of2015Third MBBS Part I were retrieved. Data of the attendance percentage of both theory and practical of the same students were also retrieved. Three groups were created based on attendance percentage of both theory and practical. Group I with less than 50% attendance, group II between 50% and 75% attendance and group III with more than 75%. Mean marks of the students of the three groups were compared with their attendance percentage.

Results: It was observed that there was a significant positive correlation between attendance percentage and Internal assessment marks in both theory and practical but no correlation was found between University marks and attendance.

Conclusion: The findings of this study support evidence that though there is a significant positive correlation between class attendance and academic achievement, attendance is not only factor responsible for academic performance.