THE ROLE OF SPIRITUAL BELIEFS IN QUALITY OF LIFE AMONG MEDICAL STUDENTS: A CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDY IN PRIVATE MEDICAL COLLEGE OF LAHORE

Background: Medical training is academically demanding and may negatively affect students’ quality of life, psychological well-being, and coping capacity. Spiritual beliefs and religious practices are often considered potential sources of emotional support, meaning, and resilience. However, the direct relationship between spiritual well-being and quality of life among medical students remains inconsistent, particularly in local academic settings where religious and cultural values may influence student well-being. Objective: To evaluate the relationship between spiritual well-being and quality of life among undergraduate medical students and to determine whether spiritual well-being independently predicted quality of life after adjustment for relevant demographic and academic factors. Methods: This cross-sectional analytical study was conducted among undergraduate MBBS students of a private medical college in Lahore, Pakistan. A total of 250 students were included through convenience sampling. Data were collected using an online questionnaire comprising demographic information, frequency of religious practice, academic stress score, the Spiritual Well-Being Scale, and the WHOQOL-BREF. Participants were categorized as active practitioners or occasional practitioners. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, Shapiro–Wilk test, Pearson correlation, independent-samples t-test, one-way ANOVA, and multiple linear regression. Results: Among 250 participants, 143 were active practitioners and 107 were occasional practitioners. Active practitioners had higher quality of life scores than occasional practitioners (76.55 ± 10.32 vs. 65.80 ± 11.50; p < .001). Spiritual well-being scores were slightly higher among active practitioners but did not differ significantly between groups (70.42 ± 4.08 vs. 69.67 ± 3.52; p = .130). Spiritual well-being was not significantly correlated with quality of life among active practitioners (r = -0.056, p = .506) or occasional practitioners (r = 0.128, p = .189). The regression model explained 41.9% of the variance in quality of life. Academic stress was the only significant independent predictor of quality of life (β = -0.634, p < .001), while spiritual well-being was not significant (β = 0.033, p = .507). Conclusion: Active religious practice was associated with better quality of life among medical students, but spiritual well-being alone did not independently predict quality of life. Academic stress was the strongest factor associated with poorer quality of life, emphasizing the need for institutional stress-reduction strategies and student support services in medical education. Keywords: Cross-Sectional Studies; Pakistan; Quality of Life; Religion; Spirituality; Stress, Psychological; Students, Medical.