title: The interplay between academic performance and quality of life among preclinical students.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The high academic performance of medical students greatly influences their professional competence in long term career. Meanwhile, medical students greatly demand procuring a good quality of life that can help them sustain their medical career. This study examines validity and reliability of the tool among preclinical students and testifies the influence of their scholastic performance along with gender and academic year on their quality of life.
  
  
  METHODS
  A cross sectional study was conducted by distributing World Health Organization Quality of Life, WHOQOL-BREF, survey among medical students of year one to three at Alfaisal University. For validity, item discriminate validity(IDV) and confirmatory factor analysis were measured and for reliability, Cronbach's α test and internal item consistency(IIC) were examined. The association of GPA, gender and academic year with all major domains was drawn using Pearson's correlation, independent samples t-test and one-way ANOVA, respectively.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 335 preclinical students have responded to this questionnaire. The construct has demonstrated an adequate validity and good reliability. The high academic performance of students positively correlated with physical (r = 0.23, p < 0.001), psychological health (r = 0.29, p < 0.001), social relations (r = 0.11, p = 0.03) and environment (r = 0.23, p < 0.001). Male student scored higher than female peers in physical and psychological health.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study has identified a direct relationship between the academic performance of preclinical students and their quality of life.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The WHOQOL-BREF is a valid and reliable tool among preclinical students and the positive direction of high academic performance with greater QOL suggests that academic achievers procure higher satisfaction and poor achievers need a special attention for the improvement of their quality of life.
authors.affiliation: St. Vincent Mercy Medical Center, 2213 Cherry Street, Toledo, OH, 43608-2691, USA. mashareef@mercy.com.
authors.forename: Mohammad Abrar
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Shareef
authors.affiliation: University of Mississippi Medical Center, Jackson, MS, USA. aalamodi@umc.edu.
authors.forename: Abdulhadi A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: AlAmodi
authors.affiliation: Alfaisal University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. aal-khateeb@alfaisal.edu.
authors.forename: Abdulrahman A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Al-Khateeb
authors.affiliation: Alfaisal University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. zabudan@alfaisal.edu.
authors.forename: Zainab
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Abudan
authors.affiliation: Alfaisal University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. malkhani@alfaisal.edu.
authors.forename: Mohammed A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Alkhani
authors.affiliation: Alfaisal University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. szebian@alfaisal.edu.
authors.forename: Sanderlla I
authors.initials: SI
authors.lastname: Zebian
authors.affiliation: Alfaisal University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. aqannita@alfaisal.edu.
authors.forename: Ahmed S
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Qannita
authors.affiliation: Alfaisal University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. mtabrizi@alfaisal.edu.
authors.forename: Mariam J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Tabrizi
mesh_terms: D002983:Clinical Competence; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004504:Education, Medical, Undergraduate / Q000379:methods; D005163:Factor Analysis, Statistical; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011594:Psychometrics; D011788:Quality of Life; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012529:Saudi Arabia; D012737:Sex Factors; D013337:Students, Medical / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014495:Universities; D014944:World Health Organization; D055815:Young Adult