Learning styles, academic achievement, and mental health problems among medical students in Thailand.
OBJECTIVE
This study aimed to investigate the prevalence of various learning styles among medical students and their correlations with academic achievement and mental health problems in these students.


METHODS
This study was conducted among 140 first-year medical students of Chiang Mai University, Thailand in 2014. The participants completed the visual-aural-read/write-kinesthetic (VARK) questionnaire, the results of which can be categorized into 4 modes, corresponding to how many of the 4 types are preferred by a respondent. The 10-item Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-10) and the 21-item Outcome Inventory (OI-21) were also used. The participants' demographic data, grade point average (GPA), and scores of all measurements are presented using simple statistics. Correlation and regression analysis were employed to analyze differences in the scores and to determine the associations among them.


RESULTS
Sixty percent of the participants were female. The mean age was 18.86±0.74 years old. Quadmodal was found to be the most preferred VARK mode (43.6%). Unimodal, bimodal, and trimodal modes were preferred by 35%, 12.9%, and 18.6% of the participants, respectively. Among the strong unimodal learners, visual, aural, read/write, and kinesthetic preferences were reported by 4.3%, 7.1%, 11.4%, and 12.1% of participants, respectively. No difference was observed in the PSS-10, OI-anxiety, OI-depression, and OI-somatization scores according to the VARK modes, although a significant effect was found for OI-interpersonal (F=2.788, P=0.043). Moreover, neither VARK modes nor VARK types were correlated with GPA.


CONCLUSIONS
The most preferred VARK learning style among medical students was quadmodal. Learning styles were not associated with GPA or mental health problems, except for interpersonal problems.
Faculty of Medicine, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai, Thailand.
Salilthip
0000-0002-0756-1770
S
Paiboonsithiwong
Faculty of Medicine, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai, Thailand.
Natchaya
0000-0003-4324-3478
N
Kunanitthaworn
Faculty of Medicine, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai, Thailand.
Natchaphon
0000-0002-4529-743X
N
Songtrijuck
Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai, Thailand.
Nahathai
0000-0001-8365-2474
N
Wongpakaran
Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai, Thailand.
Tinakon
0000-0002-9062-3468
T
Wongpakaran
D000124:Achievement; D000293:Adolescent; D004504:Education, Medical, Undergraduate; D004521:Educational Measurement; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007858:Learning; D008297:Male; D008603:Mental Health; D013315:Stress, Psychological; D013337:Students, Medical; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013785:Thailand; D014495:Universities
Educational status; Medical students; Mental health; Personality inventory; Thailand