Discriminatory episodes negatively impact the quality of life of Brazilian dental students: A cross-sectional study.

Abstract

This study aimed to evaluate whether discriminatory episodes occurring in the university environment were associated with dental students' self-perceived overall quality of life and assess the cumulative effect of perceived discriminatory experiences on the overall quality of life. In this cross-sectional study, all students enrolled in three Brazilian dental schools were invited to participate in a survey between August and October 2019. The outcome was students' self-perceived quality of life, measured through the overall quality of life item of the World Health Organization-Quality of Life Abbreviated Version (WHOQOL-BREF). Descriptive, bivariate, and multivariable logistic regression analyses (95% confidence intervals and α of 5%) were conducted using RStudio software. The sample was composed of 732 students (70.2% response rate). The great part was female (66.9%), white or yellow skin color (67.9%), and were children of highly educated mothers. About 68% of the students reported having experienced at least one of the seven discriminatory experiences presented in the questionnaire and 18.1% reported neutral or negative quality of life. In multivariable analyses, it was estimated that students who experienced at least one episode of discrimination were 2.54 times (95% CI: 1.47-4.34) more likely to report worse quality of life than their counterparts who reported no experience of discrimination. There was also a 25% (95% CI: 1.10-1.42) increase in the odds of reporting poorer quality of life for each additional discriminatory experience reported. Reporting at least one discriminatory situation in the academic environment was associated with worse quality of life among dental students, and a cumulative effect was also noted.