Predictores de Rendimiento Académico en los Estudiantes de la Facultad de Odontología de la Universidad Santo Tomás, Bucaramanga

Abstract

Introduction: academic performance is considered as the relationship that results from the learning process and the results obtained in the academic period, during their stay in a higher education institution or educational institution. Objective: to stablish the predictors that may influence the academic performance of students enrolled in the School of Dentistry of Universidad Santo Tomás in the second semester of 2018. Methods: a cross-sectional analytical study was carried out with 496 students from the Faculty of Dentistry of the Santo Tomas University of Bucaramanga (Colombia). The sociodemographic, academic, personal, family, cultural, and economic variables were evaluated; In addition to these, the variable on the Unidad de Desarrollo Integral Estudiantil (UDIES) was analyzed. The information obtained was processed through the STATA 14.0 software, which grouped the results of the questionnaires applied by self-report to the participating students. The Student t or Mann Whitney U tests were used for quantitative variables and Chi squared or Fisher's Exact for the qualitative ones. Finally, a multiple linear regression model was constructed to evaluate the predictors of academic performance. The students signed an Informed Consent and if they were minors, this authorization was given by their parents or guardians. Results: 377 (76.0%) were women. The average age was 20.6 ± 2.6 years [95% CI: 20.4 - 20.8], with a median (Me) of 20 and a range that ranged between 16 and 34 years. When evaluating the age according to the academic performance (low vs. high) it was found that the average age in the 268 (54.0%) participants with low performance was 20.8 ± 2.5 years (Me: 21) with a range between 16 and 34 years old [95% CI: 20.5 - 21.1]. On the other hand, the average age of participants with high performance was 20.4 ± 2.7 years (Me: 20) with a range between 16 and 32 years [95% CI: 20.0 - 20.7]. Among the predictors of academic performance were being level, year of admission, using all the study methods and not having changed of educational institution, among others. Conclusions: the cumulative average of the participants was 3.7 ± 0.3 [95% CI: 3.7 - 3.8] (Me: 3.7) a range between 2.7 and 4.8 with a statistically difference significant according to sex (p = 0.0117). Additionally, it was evident that not all students were clear about the meaning of the UDIES program and its functions. It is important that students give more importance to all the strategies generated from the Faculty and the University so that their performance will be better and thus achieve their goal of being an excellent professional in dentistry.