Health-related barriers to learning among graduate students

• Published in: Health education (Bradford, West Yorkshire, England) West Yorkshire, England), 2011-01, Vol.111 (5), p.425-445
• Main Authors: Kernan, William, Bogart, Jane, Wheat, Mary E
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Academic Achievement; Anxiety; Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder; Behavior; College campuses; College students; Computers; Dentistry; Depression (Psychology); Drug use; Education; Educational Environment; Games; Graduate Students; Health; Health facilities; Health Personnel; Health problems; Health sciences; Health services; Internet; Interpersonal Relationship; Learning; Medical Education; Medical research; Mental Health; Microbiology; National Surveys; Physical Health; Postgraduate students; School environment; Sex crimes; Sleep; Sleep problems; Stress Variables; Student Attitudes; Studies; Surveys; Undergraduate Students; Wellness programs
• ISSN: 0965-4283; 1758-714X
• DOI: 10.1108/09654281111161248

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to report the perceived impact of various health concerns on the academic performance of health sciences graduate students.Design methodology approach - The American College Health Association's National College Health Assessment (ACHA-NCHA), a 58-item anonymous survey, was distributed to all graduate health science students during a five-week period in the spring semester.Findings - Students (n=1,355) were most likely to report a negative perceived academic impact related to psychosocial concerns such as stress, depression anxiety, and relationship problems. The students' most pressing felt concerns were upper respiratory infections, stress, concerns about troubled loved ones and sleep difficulties. Clinical graduate students (n=712) were significantly more likely to report negative academic impacts related to upper respiratory infections (p=0.001), concern about a troubled friend or family member (p=0.001), sleep difficulties (p=0.005), relationship difficulties (p=0.030), and internet use computer games (p=0.015) than non-clinical graduate students. However, the magnitude of those differences was small.Practical implications - This paper adds to one's knowledge of student health concerns, which may help to address health-related barriers to learning.Originality value - This paper presents findings that further explicate the reciprocal relationship between student health and learning by suggesting methodology to identify priority health issues among a graduate student population. Findings from this study of over 20 different health concerns indicate that the priority health concerns of graduate health science students are primarily psychological and psychosocial health issues.