Current situation and some associated factors with reading books of full-time bachelor students of Hanoi University of Public Health in 2019

Abstract

Objective : Reading is a crucial academic behavior, which directly affects the formation of personality and develops people's thinking. In the higher education environment, reading culture helps students acquire new knowledge quickly and effectively. However, in recent years, young people and students tend to be lazy to read books, afraid of reading academic books while prefer reading comics and novels. At the same time, the dominance of the internet and audio-visual equipment makes reading in schools and universities become less attractive. This study was conducted with two objectives: (1) To describe the current situation of reading culture; and (2) To identify some factors affecting the reading culture of full-time bachelor students in Hanoi University of Public Health in 2019. Thereby, contributing to raise students' awareness about the roles of reading and providing information to help improving the quality and performance of the university’s library. Methods: The study was conducted on 420 full-time bachelor students from the first year to the fourth year, belonging to four majors of the Hanoi University of Public Health in 2019. Main findings: The study results showed that among 420 full-time bachelor students, 41.0% read books on a regular basis and 80.0% liked reading books. With regression bionary logistic analasys, associated factors with reading frequency includes: Going to library weekly  (OR=1,87; p=0,004; CI95%: 1,22 – 2,84) and Completed reading the document assigned by teachers (OR=1,61; p=0,043; CI95%: 1,01 – 2,55). In addition, students who were reading addiction were likely to read all the book assigned, which was higher than the students who did not like reading. Conclusions: With full-time Bachelor students at Hanoi University of Public Health, percentages of students with frequent reading behavior were not high in general. However, it could be seen that the reading behavior of students was influenced by the teachers’ activities. Therefore, teachers should enhance checking books and course materials that students have read before classes as well as setting a criteria on the minimum number of academic books students should read while doing their assignments so that students are more aware of the importance of academic reading while studying at university.