Investigation of the status of virtual education from the perspective of school-age children and its relationship with the health-related quality of life and life satisfaction

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Children are the future makers and the main assets of any country. Therefore, it is important to pay attention to childhood health. One of the important indicators related to health is the health-related quality of life and life satisfaction, which are particularly affected by education in school-age children. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between the status of virtual education from the perspective of school-age children with the health-related quality of life and life satisfaction. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This research was a descriptive-analytical and cross-sectional study that was conducted from April to September 2021. The statistical population of the research was made up of all students under virtual education in the fourth to sixth grades of Isfahan elementary school. Sampling in this study was done in clusters and within the clusters as available. Accordingly, 300 second-grade elementary students who were selected from all schools in the three educational districts of Isfahan-Iran formed the research samples. The research data collection tools included the Landgraph Health-Related Quality of Life Questionnaire, multidimensional life satisfaction questionnaire, and a virtual education researcher-made questionnaire. Descriptive statistics were used for descriptive data (mean and standard deviation for quantitative variables and frequency distribution table for qualitative variables), and the Pearson correlation coefficient was used for inferential data. RESULTS: As shown, 50 of the students were girls and 50 boys, with an average age of 11 years. Most respondents (64) reported the status of e-learning as appropriate and health-related quality of life (60.7) as good, and most of the people (65) reported their life satisfaction as satisfactory. In addition, there was a positive and significant correlation between health-related quality of life and e-learning status (r = 0.23; P < 0.001). CONCLUSION: The internet and virtual space can cause problems in public health while providing a suitable platform for development and progress; this is particularly true for children. However, this study showed that virtual education has a positive relationship with the health-related quality of life in students, and the health-related quality of life is also good from their perspective.