THE IMPACT OF DISTANCE LEARNING TECHNOLOGIES ON THE LIFESTYLE AND HEALTH OF STUDENTS AT A MEDICAL UNIVERSITY

Abstract

In the course of this study there was conducted an anonymous survey of students of I-VI courses studying in the specialties “Medical Care”, “Pediatrics” and “Medical and Preventive Care” in medical universities of St. Petersburg. The purpose of the study is to study the features of the daily routine, nutrition and physical activity of students, as well as to assess the learning load and visual load in the conditions of distance learning. The material was collected remotely during October November 2020. The mathematical analysis was performed using the SPSS 23.0 program. The data were interpreted using the qualitative analysis of the respondents ‘ responses and the identification of significant discrepancies using the Pearson Chi square agreement criterion, and the correction analysis of the scale parameters was performed using the Pearson coefficient. The analysis of the received answers showed that the regime moments of a significant proportion of students are characterized by pronounced deviations from the recommended values: the sleep duration was less than 7 hours in 51.3 % of the surveyed students, and the total time of using electronic devices in 77.8 % of students was more than 5 hours a day. More than half of the respondents (64.6 %) did not have a balanced diet, while the diet of students living with their parents is more diverse in terms of the set of products than that of students living on their own. A third of all respondents (33.8 %) noted that their physical well being deteriorated during the distance learning period. It was also revealed that the level of physical well being is associated with the lifestyle of students, their physical activity and the severity of the academic load. The study showed that in the conditions of distance learning, students of junior (I-III) courses devote more time to the educational process, which, combined with sleep deprivation and lack of the required level of physical activity, can lead to a deterioration in the well being of students.