Introduction:

Medical students face, many times, unfavorable living environments and learning conditions, as well as psychological aspects that can impact negatively on their quality of life and academic outcomes.

Objective:

To assess the academic performance of applicants to study Medicine in association with self-perception of quality of life and healthy habits.

Methods:

A cross-sectional, observational and analytical study was carried out. A sociodemographic survey and the WHOQOL-Bref survey were conducted on a sample of medical students of the propaedeutic course.

Results:

Differences were found between students who passed and those who did not pass the propaedeutic course regarding self-perception of quality of life (p=0.01), and the domains of physical health (p=0.04), psychological health (p=0.02) and environment (p=0.003). Also, we found differences between students who had breakfast and those who omitted breakfast regarding self-perception of quality of life (p=0.012), physical health (p=0.009), and domains of psychological health (p=0.009) and environment (p=0.024).

Conclusions:

The high scores in the WHOQOL-Bref test are in correlation with high academic performance; also, the habit of omitting breakfast leads to poor school performance and lower quality of life in students.

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