ABSTRACT
Purpose:
to compare the quality of life (QoL) of speech therapy students in different undergraduate semesters and identify proposals for improvement.
Methods:
this is a cross-sectional, exploratory and descriptive study using a convenience sample. A total of 117 undergraduate students participated in the study and they were divided according to the undergraduate semester: G1 (n = 24) second semester, G2 (n = 33) fourth semester, G3 (n = 34) sixth semester and G4 (n = 26) eighth semester. The WHOQoL-Bref was the instrument used, which also included an open question: "How can the coordination of the Speech and Language Therapy Course contribute to the improvement of your quality of life?" The non-parametric statistical Kruskal Wallis test was used at significance level of 5% (p < 0.05). The absolute and relative frequencies of responses to the open question were calculated and categorised by specific and general content.
Results:
QoL was predominantly good (53.84%) and health satisfactory (49.57%). There was no statistically significant association between the groups (p > 0.05). QoL decreased in all domains from G2 to G3, increasing in G4. G3 had the worst QoL perception. Social relations and environment were the domains with the highest and lowest mean values, respectively. The highest percentage (40%) was in the category "5-year undergraduate course".
Conclusion:
There were no significant differences in the QoL between the undergraduate semesters, with the sixth semester being the worst. Social relations had the highest mean value, whereas environment the lowest.
Keywords:
Quality of Life; Students; Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences
