Non-Scholastic Qualities and their Association with Social Media usage among Medical Students in Puducherry, India

BACKGROUND: Non-scholastic qualities, namely personal characteristics, interpersonal activities, and communication skills, are needed for the effective functioning of a medical professional. The study aimed to assess non-scholastic qualities and their association with social media usage among medical students. METHODS: This is a descriptive, cross-sectional study in a tertiary care medical institution in Puducherry, coastal south India. The non-scholastic qualities were assessed by standard questionnaire and categorised as low, moderate and high qualities. Social media usage was assessed by SONTUS (Social Networking Time Use Scale) and the participants were categorised as low, average, high, and extremely high users. Multiple logistic regression analysis was done. RESULTS: Out of 270 medical students, 63% belonged to the moderate non-scholastic quality category. About 36% of the students had high non-scholastic quality. Most of the students were extremely high users of social media (60%). About 48% (47/98) of students with high non-scholastic qualities had extremely high social media usage, while 67% (115/172) of students with low and moderate non-scholastic qualities had extremely high social media usage, and both the associations were statistically significant (P = 0.003). Those with a high level of social media usage had 2.27 times (95% CI: 1.239-4.166) higher non-scholastic qualities compared to extremely high social media usage. CONCLUSIONS: The majority had moderate non-scholastic qualities and extremely high use of social media.