Quality of Life and Related Factors Among Final Year Nursing Students During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

Background: COVID-19 has significantly influenced to the healthcare educational programs. Final year nursing students did not except, even maybe became the vulnerable respondents in the pandemic. Therefore, their quality of life has considerably reduced. Objectives: To describe the physical quality of life and explore the relationships between demographic information, fear of COVID-19, and physical quality of life among final year nursing students. Methods: This was a cross-sectional descriptive study of 113 final year nursing students at Da Nang University of Medical Technology and Pharmacy, Vietnam, from March to April 2022. All participants completed a questionnaire which consisted of 3 parts including the demographic information, fear of COVID-19, and the World Health Organization Quality of Life Brief (WHOQOL-BREF). Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, Mann-Whitney U test, Kruskal-Wallis test, and Spearman rank correlation. Results: The physical quality of life of participants was at medium level (mean [SD], 87.86 [9.14]). There were statistically significant relationships between gender and fear of COVID-19 to quality of life (P < .05), whereas age, living with, and monthly income were not correlated with quality of life (P > .05). Conclusions: During the COVID-19 pandemic, final year nursing students had medium quality of life. Physical domain and fear of COVID-19 should be improved to increase quality of life.