Quality of life among undergraduate university students during COVID-19 movement control order in Sarawak

Background and Aims This study aimed to examine the quality of life (QoL) and health satisfaction of undergraduate university students in Sarawak during MCO and its association with socio-demographic profiles. Methods In this cross-sectional study, QoL and satisfaction of health of 503 undergraduate university students (63.4% females) from a public university was assessed online using the World Health Organization QoL (WHOQOL)-BREF instrument. Results The overall QoL and satisfaction with health were 3.7 +/- 0.87 and 3.9 +/- 0.82, respectively. Male students showed significantly lower mean scores for the environmental domains than female students (63.37 +/- 16.21 vs 68.10 +/- 14.00, P < .01). Students who lived inside the campus (vs outside campus) showed significantly lower mean score for the physical health (61.49 +/- 13.94 vs 67.23 +/- 13.93, P < .01), environmental health (58.35 +/- 15.07 vs 70.49 +/- 13.21, P < .01), overall QoL (3.39 +/- 0.90 vs 3.84 +/- 0.83, P < .01), and satisfaction with health (3.71 +/- 0.90 vs 3.97 +/- 0.77, P < .01). Students with parent's income below RM5000 (vs parent's income more than RM5000) had significantly lower mean score for the environmental domain (65.06 +/- 14.35 vs 68.20 +/- 15.74, P < .05). Others ethnicity scored significantly lower than Bumiputera Sarawak and Malay while Bumiputera Sarawak scored significantly lower than Chinese in physical health domain (Malay = 65.73 +/- 13.40, Chinese = 63.24 +/- 15.35, Bumiputra Sarawak = 67.35 +/- 13.30, Others = 60.84 +/- 15.88, P < .05). Malay (69.99 +/- 15.20) scored significantly higher than other ethnicities (Chinese = 63.58 +/- 15.80; Bumiputera Malaysia = 65.23 +/- 13.66; others = 63.98 +/- 15.59) in environmental domain (P < .01). When comparing between religions, the results also showed there were significant differences between different religion groups in overall QoL (Islam = 3.75 +/- 0.93, Christianity = 3.77 +/- 0.79, Others = 3.34 +/- 1.14, P < .05), physical health (Islam = 65.00 +/- 13.86, Buddhism = 68.40 +/- 11.99, Christianity = 64.77 +/- 14.94, Others = 61.00 +/- 16.03, P < .05), and environmental health (Islam = 69.66 +/- 15.48, Buddhism = 64.99 +/- 11.36, Christianity = 64.87 +/- 15.61, Others = 62.13 +/- 16.28, P < .05). Conclusion By understanding university students' QoL in this global disaster, relevant authorities would provide a better rehabilitation and assistance to those affected ones.