PHYSICAL HEALTH OF STUDENTS AND DIGITALIZATION OF HIGHER MEDICAL EDUCATION: RISK FACTORS

Abstract

The aim: To study the dynamics of gadget use by higher education students of the Bogomolets National Medical University and to assess technological impact on the physical health of students. Materials and methods: To accomplish the tasks set using theoretical and experimental methods of scientific research: systematic analysis, comparison and generalization of the bibliosemantic method, questionnaires, and interviews with students. Quantitative data collected during the survey of students studying in the «Dentistry», «Pediatrics», «Medicine», «Pharmacy, Industrial Pharmacy», «Physical Therapy, Occupational Therapy», and «Medical Psychology» specialties were processed using the MedCalc statistical software, and there was carried out comparative analysis afterwards. Results: During the quarantine and martial law, medical university students were forced to study distantly or in a mixed format using various gadgets and computers. It is obvious that the physical condition of a person is affected by the duration of their use of various devices. In this paper, therefore, the risks and the researched dynamics of gadget use by higher education students of the Bogomolets National Medical University were identified. Thus, the technological impact on the physical health of students was also defined. Moreover, the data based on the results of height and weigh calculation of higher education students, which used to diagnose types of obesity by anthropometric indicators, were also collected. Conclusions: According to the results of the research, it was established that the students of the Bogomolets National Medical University spent a significant part of their study time sitting in the classroom or at the computer (40 hours weekly average). We found that in the process of distance learning, prolonged sitting at a PC or other gadget (as well as general sedentary lifestyle) has affected the female higher education students majoring in 222 «Medicine» course their body mass index. The time spent using gadgets both in the educational and non-formal education (self-education) processes has increased significantly. We attribute this fact to the emergence of a significant number of online educational resources in the public domain, the growing number of webinars, trainings, and master classes conducted by both domestic and foreign experts online.