Does Absenteeism Affect Academic Performance Among Undergraduate Medical Students? Evidence From “Rashid Latif Medical College (RLMC).”

Figures & data

Table 1 Descriptive Statistics With Pooled Midterm Samples

Variables	Mean ± SD	Minimum	Maximum	Observations (N)
Grade (0–100% Scale) [%]
Professional assessment-1 grade	77.4 ± 8.2	43.9	100	404
Professional assessment-2 grade	85.3 ± 7.02	42.6	100	232
Term-1 grades	73.15 ± 16.4	29.1	100	404
Term-2 grades	81.36 ± 12.3	40.13	100	232
Attendance (0–100% Scale) [%]
Professional assessment-1 attendance	75.64 ± 5.69	0	100	404
Professional assessment-2 attendance	82.69 ± 6.31	0	100	232
Term-1 attendance	75.63 ± 23.1	0	100	404
Term-2 attendance	82.12 ± 24.9	0	100	232
Control Factors
Age (years)	23.34 ± 1.28	20	27	404
Gender (%)
Male	43.6	–	1	404
Female	56.4	–	1
Campus area resident (%)
In-campus	32.7	–	–	-
Off-campus	67.3	–	–	-
School type [n (%)]
Private	353(87.4)	–	–	404
Government	51(12.6)	–	–
Social status (income Rs.) [n (%)]
Middle class (<250,000)	157(38.9)	–	–	404
Upper class (> 250,000)	247(61.1)	–	–
Admin. Academic record (%)
MCAT grade point average	80.3 ± 6.3	60	95	404
Higher secondary school grade	79.3 ± 7.32	70	94	404
Survey variables
Weekly study hours	10.96 ± 2.15	6	18	404
Subject interest (0–100% Scale)	78.23 ± 10.66	50	100	404
Teaching evaluation (0–100% Scale)	81.58 ± 10.41	40	90	404
Subject difficulty (0–100% Scale)	76.1 ± 11.3	43	81	404
Parents Education [n (%)]
Graduated	181(44.8)	–	–	404
Under-Graduate	45(11.1)	–	–
Illiterate	178(44.1)	–	–

Notes: Professional assessment-1: Summative assessment at the end of the 1st year of MBBS.

Professional assessment-2: Summative assessment at the end of the 2nd year of MBBS.

Figure 1 Scatter plot presents the positive linear correlation between the score of first Professional assessment and class attendance (R² = 0.397, p < 0.05).

Figure 2 Scatter plot presents the positive linear correlation between the score of 2^nd Professional assessment and class attendance (R² = 0.198, p < 0.05).

Table 2 Association Between Academic Performance And Absenteeism Score

Variable	Absenteeism Score, Mean	Mean Difference (CI 95%; Lower Limit- Upper Limit)	t-statistics (df)	p-value
1^st Professional assessment
Passed (n=265)	0.06	8.97 (8.95; 15.00)	6.80 (404)	< 0.001
Failed (n=139)	6.40
2^nd Professional assessment
Passed (n=250)	0.08	6.12 (3.65; 6.96)	9.31 (298)	< 0.001
Failed (n=48)	4.55

Notes: Professional assessment-1: Summative assessment at the end of the 1st year of MBBS. Professional assessment-2: Summative assessment at the end of the 2nd year of MBBS.The Independent-t test was applied to compare mean difference between two independent variables (passed and failed) of 1st, and 2nd Professional assessment exams. The level of significance was considered 0.05.

Table 3 Overall Grade Determinants. Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) Estimates

Variables	OLS1	OLS2	OLS3	OLS4
Attendance of 1st Professional assessment (%)	0.172** (0.157)	0.180** (0.043)	0.121** (0.031)	0.113** (0.034)
Attendance of 2nd Professional assessment (%)	0.193** (0.35)	0.195** (0.062)	0.188** (0.017)	0.127** (0.072)
Age		1.005 (0.84)	0.501 (0.871)	−0.531 (0.81)
Gender		0.39 (2.49)	0.46 (8.36)	0.66 (8.18)
Campus Area Resident		3.98 (2.99)	3.08 (2.73)	5.60* (2.54)
School Type		2.5 (2.18)	5.5 (2.27)	6.2 (1.78)
Social Status		0.01 (2.56)	0.03 (2.49)	0.13 (3.04)
MCAT grade point average			0.93* (0.28)	0.99* (0.30)
Higher Secondary School grade			0.32* (0.18)	0.216 (0.67)
Weekly Study Hours				0.07 (0.16)
Subject Interest				0.09 (0.14)
Teaching Evaluation				0.31* (0.16)
Adjusted R^2	0.542	0.284	0.361	0.472
Total no. of Observations	404	404	404	404

Notes: Calculations on RLMC pooled samples. Values in parentheses represented clustered robust standard errors. *Significance at 10% level; **Significance at 5% level; OLS 1= Attendance; OLS 2= Age, Gender, Campus Area Resident, School Type, Social Status, Parents Education (Individual characteristics); OLS 3= Grade Point Average of MCAT Marks, High secondary school marks (Ability); OLS 4= Weekly Study Hour, Subject Interest, Teaching Evaluation (Effort and motivation).

Abbreviation: OLS, ordinary least squares.

Table 4 Effects Of Attendance On Final Grades Of RLMC. Panel Data Estimates

Variable	RE2	RE3	RE4	FE
Attendance (%) of 1st Professional assessment	0.099* (0.031)	0.081* (0.021)	0.073* (0.042)	0.039 (0.092)
Total no. of Observations	404	404	404	404
Attendance (%) of 2nd Professional assessment	0.097* (0.031)	0.081* (0.022)	0.080* (0.044)	0.044 (0.071)
Total no. of Observations	298	298	298	298

Notes: Calculations on RLMC pooled samples. Values in parentheses represented clustered robust standard errors. *Significance at 5% level.

Abbreviations: RE, Random Effect; FE, Fixed Effect; RE2, Individual characteristics; RE3, Ability; RE4, Effort and motivation.