Relationship between study habits and academic success among students at Arak university of medical sciences during the COVID-19 pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the pattern of medical education. This study aimed to investigate the study habits of students at Arak University of Medical Sciences, Arak, its relationship with academic success, and the related factors.

This cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted by random sampling method on 340 students of Arak University of Medical Sciences during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2022. The required data for this study were collected through a demographic form and Palsani and Sharma's Study Habits Inventory. Data analysis was conducted in Stata software using independent t-tests, one-way analysis of variance, and Pearson correlation.

A total of 229 female and 111 male students participated in this study, and the results showed that the majority of the students (84.19%) had relatively favorable study habits. The mean score of the students' study habits was obtained at 50.70±8.86, and the highest scores were related to the subscales of taking tests and reading ability. A positive correlation was observed between the overall score of study habits and the grade point average (r=0.19, P≤0.001) and the number of siblings (r=0.12, P≤0.001). The score of study habits showed a significant relationship between study hours and English language level (P≤0.001).

The status of students' study habits was reported to be relatively favorable and related to academic success. It is recommended to improve the training level of students in virtual education, enhance their English language level, and create more interaction to strengthen motivation to study and learn in the self-learning process.