Rest activities and the difficulties for their performance in medical students at the Universidad del Cauca, Colombia, during the SARS-COV-2 pandemic

Abstract

Introduction: Adequate rest determines the mood and performance during daily activities, as well as the mental health and academic success of a medical student with a high academic load. Therefore, knowing what activities they engage in, as well as the difficulties to execute them, provides an approach that permits their accomplishment properly. Objective: To describe the rest activities and the difficulties in performing them during the academic day of medical students at the Universidad del Cauca in times of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. Materials and methods: A descriptive, cross-sectional study was conducted among 230 medical students of the Universidad del Cauca, selected with a two-stage probabilistic sampling, who were administered an online survey of 108 questions that addressed socio-demographic aspects and each of the components of rest and lifestyles. Results: 99.1% of students undertake leisure activities. 29.5% of them do relaxation sessions. Physical exercise was present in 63.3%. Most of the activities increased during confinement. The main difficulties for their execution were the lack of time and adequate physical spaces. Conclusions: Leisure activities were the most frequently encountered in this population. Knowing the difficulties perceived by the students contributes to the exploration for improvement plans associated with student wellbeing. There is a need to assess stress and more aspects of mental health, new studies could focus on this aspect of utmost importance in medical students.