Reading habits and their associated factors in medical students of a Peruvian university

Abstract

Introduction: Reading implies understanding, interpreting or reflecting on the meaning of something written with the aim of intellectual development and communication skills. So it is important that the medical student have a good reading habit in order to acquire critical reading skills to assess the quality of the evidence.
Objective: To determine the factors associated with reading habits in medical students at Universidad Peruana Los Andes.
Method: Observational, analytical and transversal study. A questionnaire was applied to 248 students from the first to the fifth year of their studies, consisting of two parts: the first on sociodemographic characteristics, academic and factors that influence reading and the second contained the assessment of reading habit. To determine the association, the Chi-square and t Student tests were used. In addition, crude and adjusted prevalence ratios were calculated using generalized linear models.
Results: Of the 248 students, most had a good reading habit (69.3%). The female sex had a better reading habit (74.4%) (p = 0.016) and the male had a bad reading habit (RPc:1.43; IC95%:1.01-2.05). On the other hand, the main reason for academic reading had a significant association with good reading habits (RPc:2.78; IC95%:1.59-4.86). Finally, in the adjusted analysis, the latter was the only one with statistical significance (RPa:2.84; IC95%:1.67-4.82).
Conclusions: The good reading habit was the most frequent. The associated factors were the male sex and the main academic motivation. It is recommended to take measures to improve reading habits through workshops or the formation of reading clubs.