Abstract
Introduction: Given the importance of providing social health for students, this study was conducted to investigate the social health and its related factors among Iranian students of medical sciences. Methods: This descriptive and cross-sectional study was carried out in 2016. The population of the study included students of Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences (Sari, Iran). Using random sampling, we selected 352 students. Eligible students for the study were those who (i) consented to participate, (ii) agreed to participate fully, and (iii) had no physical illnesses. Exclusion from the study was due to any event that prevented them from participating in the study (e.g., the death of a family member). Then, standardized questionnaire of "Keyes's Social Well-being" and demographic questionnaire were used in this study to collect data. The data were tabulated and analyzed by means of SPSS 13.0 for Windows (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL, USA), which was used to calculate descriptive and inferential (Two-way ANOVA) indices. Results: In this study, 202 women and 150 men participated with the mean age of 23.14 (2.41). The mean score of social health of students was average 92.99 (7.54). About 75.4% of participants had average levels of social health. Maximum and minimum levels of social health were related to contribution 20.64 (3.65) and social coherence 15.86 (2.12) respectively. There were no differences in the overall social health score of the students in terms of gender; however, regarding marital status, place of residence, father's education, and mother's education, there was a significant difference among students. Conclusion: Given the importance of social health, it is necessary to have proper planning such as providing for the requirements of stable marriages for students, good place of residence to improve the quality of life and enhance their satisfaction with it.
Highlights
Given the importance of providing social health for students, this study was conducted to investigate the social health and its related factors among Iranian students of medical sciences
Reviewing each of the five dimensions of social health shows that themean social integration of students is 15.86, social acceptance 18.54, social contribution 20.64, social actualization mean 18, and social coherence got 20.58
The results of this study showed that social solidarity among dental school students is more than that of other schools, and social actualization of pharmacy school students is more than that of other schools
Summary
Given the importance of providing social health for students, this study was conducted to investigate the social health and its related factors among Iranian students of medical sciences. A five-factor model was proposed in which solidarity health-indicators.[10,11] what causes higher education to try to create coordination between the new needs and university are great industrial, economic, social, and cultural developments at national, regional, and global levels.[12] Social health indicators give us quantitative information about a variety of situations or not In this sort of planning, attention to social health of students as the main axis of development is essential.[13] Besides educating students and preparing them to take on professional responsibilities, Universities should take measures for healthy emotional and social nurturing of them in harmony with cultural, social, familial, religious, historical beliefs and values, so that through the realization of the concept of individual autonomy they could perfect their identities formed in prior periods.[14,15] in recent years, emotional, mental, and social problems have had an ascending and worrying trend among students, and abnormal phenomena such as suicidal tendencies, substance abuse, and academic failure have been serious obstacles to the development of the university.[16,17] So, in order to deal with these problems, scientific and accurate understanding of problems based on studies of experts and scholars is inevitable. The limitations of student life, such as being away from family, dealing with new social and physical environments, complying with the values and expectations of the university are among important issues for further research in the higher education system.[18,19] Social health provides us with health care system
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