Table 2. Comparison of quality of life dimensions scores (mean ± standard deviation) with Short Form-8 (SF-8) scores between University of California (UCD) and University of Pretoria (UP) veterinary medical students.
| UCD (N = 102) | UP (N = 74) | P-value | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Role emotional (RE) | 38.7 ± 10.0 | 35.6 ± 10.6 | 0.114 |
| Mental health (MH) | 40.0 ± 7.7 | 42.0 ± 8.2 | 0.09 |
| Social functioning (SF) | 42.6 ± 9.4 | 39.6 ± 9.2 | 0.179 |
| Vitality (VT) | 45.0 ± 8.3 | 45.6 ± 7.6 | 0.795 |
| General health perception (GH) | 43.2 ± 9.9 | 44.4 ± 8.5 | 0.554 |
| Role physical (RP) | 47.8 ± 7.0 | 48.8 ± 7.3 | 0.443 |
| Physical functioning (PF) | 47.7 ± 7.1 | 50.2 ± 7.5 | 0.039 |
| Bodily pain (BP) | 50.3 ± 7.3 | 48.5 ± 8.3 | 0.020 |
| Mental component summary (MCS) | 36.5 ± 11.5 | 34.5 ± 12.3 | 0.418 |
| Physical component summary (PCS) | 49.8 ± 7.6 | 50.8 ± 8.4 | 0.727 |
Scores below 50 points (mean score = 50, standard deviation = 10) corresponded to deviations from normality and indicate a poorer quality of life, whereas scores above 50 points represented a better quality of life than that of the average adult American population [22]. Row score comparisons between the 2 schools with P <0.05 are different.