Quality of life, physical activity and burnout syndrome during online learning period in Brazilian university students during the COVID-19 pandemic: a cluster analysis

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic caused several changes in the teaching-learning process, as it abruptly replaced the conventional classes into online classes despite social distancing requirements. Such changes may be associated with several mental health problems and negatively affect the quality of life and academic performance of university students. We performed a cluster analysis in a large sample of Brazilian undergraduate students, considering sociodemographic data, physical activity frequency, study areas, Burnout Syndrome (BS), Quality of Life (QoL) and perception of online learning (OL) during COVID-19 pandemic. Seven hundred and three students (between 17 and 62 years, from 67 higher education institutions) participated in the study. We identified three different profiles of students regarding psychological aspects and OL perception. The first profile, called as the ‘Low QoL’ group was composed of younger students, mainly females, with higher frequency of psychological disorders (as evidenced by the self-report of depression and/or anxiety), in addition to higher Burnout scores, lower QoL and worse OL perception. The second profile called ‘Intermediate QoL’ comprised participants with an average age of 45 years, with a greater number of men, married, with kids and working in addition to studying. They presented better OL scores than the ‘Low QoL’ group. The third profile called ‘Better QoL’ comprised students with higher scores in all domains of QoL and better OL perception, with greater frequency of physical activity and lower BS scores. Students from Health courses showed higher scores for general QoL, and also for the psychological and environmental domains in relation to the other areas. Besides, students of the Exact Sciences courses showed higher scores on all OL perception items in comparison to the other courses. Our results provide insights regarding the mental health profile of undergraduate students, allowing educational managers to outline specific coping strategies to assist students during the pandemic.