Amulya Govada¹ ,(Maj) Suma Kaza² , Mahathi Thotakura³ ,NageswarRao R⁴

¹Final MBBS Part-1 student,³Assistant Professor,⁴Professor &Head, Department of Pathology, Katuri Medical College and Hospital,Guntur, ²Assistant Professor, Department of Pathology, Kamineni Institute of Medical Sciences,Narketpally,Telangana,India.

Address for correspondence: Dr (Maj.) Suma Kaza, Assistant Professor, Department of Pathology, Kamineni Institute of Medical Sciences,Narketpally,Telangana,India.
Email: cyma2110@gmail.com

Introduction : Undergraduate (UG) medical education in India is facing new challenges. Nutritional status, genetic predisposition to DiabetesMellitus and life style of medical students are examples of modifiable and non-modifiable factors that may influence academic performance. The quality of clinical practice is strongly associated with academic performance in preclinical years.

Aims and Objectives: Our study is aimed at analyzing the influence of Red Cells Indices (RCI), Family history of Diabetes Mellitus(DM) and daily exercise on academic performance of undergraduate medical (UG) students.

Materials and Methods :A cross sectional study approved by Institutional Ethical committee done in 100 UG medical students. 3 ml venous blood was collected and the values of Red Cell Indices were recorded. A questionnaire was given to all subjects with questions on family history of DM, involvement in physical activities and academic scores.

Results :Of 100 UG medical students, abnormal RCI was seen in 29.40% of girls and 2.04% of boys. Students who are involved in daily exercise (73.68%) were found good in academics. 72.07% of anemic girls are with below average academic performance.

Conclusion :Academic performance of UG medical students is positively influenced when RCI are normal, Family history of DM is absent and daily exercise is performed.

Keywords :Academic Performance, UG Medical students, Red cell indices, Diabetes mellitus