Epidemiological health factors and their relationship with academic performance during the first year of medical school. Study of two generations.

Background: Academic drop outs at the university level is a serious problem. At the School of Medicine of the UNAM, over 50% of students enrolled in their first year do not graduate. It? order to solve this problem, the UMAM has tutoring and financial aids to help students. One area of enquiry is to analyze factors such as health status (physical and mental), lifestyle and environmental factors that may influence student's performance. The objective in the present study was to identify risk factors for overall health and establish a scholastic performance forecasting profile. Methods: Health variables included in the Examen Medico Automatizado (EMA) were correlated with the academic performance in a sample of students from two generations. Four groups were conformed and the variables that were analyzed included traditional academic program (TRAD), high academic demand and having a status as regular or irregular student. Results: 1,848 students were included in the study. The risk factors that characterized students in the TRAD program and had an irregular status were: signs of depression, anxiety, suicidal ideation and suicidal intent, prior pregnancy, poor interpersonal relationships, public school education, low income, parents with less than college education and long conmutes from home to school. Students with an irregular status belonging to the high academic demand, reported the strongest protective factors against school failure. Conclusions: The EMA test identifies risk and protective factors then have an influence on student's academic performance. A forecasting failure profile was established among first year of students enrolled in the TRAD program. We suggest strategies that should be implemented and to continue studying cohorts of graduating students.