Associação entre satisfação com o curso de Odontologia e satisfação com a vida, fatores sociodemográficos e profissionais

Abstract

Academic satisfaction can be defined as the psychological state of the student resulting from the fulfillment of his or her expectations with regards to the university. In other words, it is the extent to which the student is satisfied with the course and the education received. Studies report that the dissatisfaction of students with the course can affect their academic life, future in the profession, the work environment, relationships with colleagues and even relationships with patients. Therefore, the identification of such individuals would enable teaching institutions to make efforts to change this scenario. The aim of the present study was to evaluate associations between satisfaction with the dentistry course and satisfaction with life, sociodemographic characteristics and professional factors among undergraduate students in dentistry. This work was approved by the Human Research Ethics Committee of the Federal University of Minas Gerais (CAAE: 67189617.2.1001.5149). This is a cross-sectional study carried out with 512 dentistry students enrolled at UFMG, Brazil. The sample corresponded to 80% of the target population, being possible to present a representative profile of all periods of the Dental School at UFMG. The students answered a structured questionnaire of twelve questions addressing satisfaction with the course, sociodemographic characteristics and other factors related to the course and career. Also answered the Satisfaction with Life Scale, which is composed of five items with a seven-point Likert-type response format, with the extremes being 1 (Strongly disagree) and 7 (Strongly agree). Data analysis involved descriptive statistics and multiple logistic regression analysis with the aid of the SPSS program. The dependent variable of this study was satisfaction with the course of Dentistry and this was categorized into low and high. Most participants were women (73.2%) and single (99.8%). Mean age was 21.77 ± 2.71 years. The monthly family income was higher than three time the Brazilian minimum wage among 77.4% of the individuals and the mean ESV score was 24.13 (+6.47), ranging from 5 to 35. The multivariate analysis revealed that satisfaction with the course was associated with prospects of the job market (OR = 2.44; 95% CI: 1.36-4.40) and satisfaction with life (OR = 1,10; 95% CI: 1,06-1,15). The other sociodemographic factors were not associated with satisfaction with the course. In conclusion, the satisfaction of undergraduates with the dentistry course follows their satisfaction with their own life as well as their optimism regarding the job market of dentists.