Predictors of perceived stress and quality of life amongst dental master and doctoral students

Objectives This study aimed to identify predictors of perceived stress and quality of life (QoL) amongst dental master and doctoral students. Materials and Methods This is a cross-sectional study with Brazilian students as participants (n = 707). The following instruments were administered: Perceived stress scale (PSS), the WHOQOL-BREF and a socio-demographic questionnaire. A linear regression model was estimated. Results The results showed that female was associated with higher scores of PSS and lower scores of QoL. A negative correlation was observed between PSS and all four domains of QoL. Multivariate analysis revealed that the set of selected variables partially explained the variability of PSS score (28%) and the four QoL domains: physical (52%), psychological (62%), social relationships (25%) and environment (37%). The variable number of children, hours of sleep, concurrent work and study, leisure time and physical activity practice were associated with positive changes on QoL, whilst PSS and medication intake with negative. Lower PSS score was associated with the variables age, hours of sleep, leisure time and physical activity. Conclusions Our findings suggest that perceived stress and medication intake due to study are important predictors of lower QoL in dental master and doctoral students, especially in the psychological domain. More hours of sleep, leisure time and physical activity improved both QoL and perceived stress scores and might be feasible coping strategies for these outcomes in this population.