Attitudes towards research among undergraduate health science students in Mexico

Abstract

Introduction: Health research is a key component for improving health systems and developing skills applicable to the clinical setting. However, limited research has been conducted on the attitudes of undergraduate university students (UUS) in the health area of Mexico.

Objective: To analyze attitudes towards research in UUS of medicine, psychology, nutrition and nursing in Mexico.

Method: We recruited UUS through convenience sampling, in person and through social networks. We applied a virtual form that included: sex, age, undergraduate degree, semester, type of university (public/private), interest in doing a thesis (yes/no), employment status and a validated questionnaire (28 items) to assess attitudes towards research. The tool is divided into two dimensions (positive and negative) and 4 categories: “research skills”, “positive valuation”, “obstacles to research” and “negative valuation” and is answered with a 4-option Likert-type scale (0 = strongly disagree; 1 = disagree; 2 = agree; 3 = strongly agree; negative items were reverse scored). We calculated the score for each category and the total. We established tertiles as cut-off points to identify attitudes towards research: “bad”, “fair” and “good”.

Results: We included 281 UUS (71.5% women). We compared attitudes according to several variables with the chi2 test (p <0.05 statistically significant). The predominant attitude towards research was “bad” (35.9%), followed by “fair” (32.7%) and “good” (31.3%). Significantly, medical students, first-year students and those interested in doing a thesis were the groups with the highest proportion of positive attitudes.

Conclusions: These results can be used to plan educational interventions aimed at improving the perception and participation of students in research activities, which, in turn, could contribute to their academic and professional development.