Factors that may influence the score in the College Admission Test in China

Abstract

<b>Introduction: </b> Many factors may influence the score of the College Admission Test. The purpose of this study was to assess the factors that may predict students’ scores in the College Admission Test in China. <br /> <b>Material and methods: </b> We sent out 1000 questionnaires which consisted of the following items: objective data on demographic factors, their scores of the test, the year they attended the test, whether they took a set of “art” subjects or a set of “science” subjects, the monthly salary of the whole family, the highest academic degree obtained by the father and mother, the history of past operations and the name and the times of operations undergone, as well as the type of anesthesia received by those who took the College Admission Test. <br /> <b>Results</b>: Univariate analyses showed that age, gender, household income, parental education, and anesthesia history may influence College Admission Test scores. These variables were subsequently entered into the multivariate linear regression model. Students with a history of local anesthesia are predicted to have a score 8.1 points lower than the average (–8.1, 95% CI: –15, –1) and this effect is statistically significant (p = 0.025). Students with a history of general anesthesia are also predicted to have lower scores (–2.8, 95% CI: –16, 10.2) than the average, but the difference is not statistically significant. <br /> <b>Conclusions</b>: The present findings suggest that the scores in the College Admission Test may be associated with age, gender, father’s education and the use of local anesthetics. Ever receiving local anesthesia had a negative impact on College Admission Test scores.