From permanence to quality of life: sexual orientation and identity of gender of students in a higher education institution in the brazilian northeast

Abstract

To get to know the quality of life of LGBT students at the Federal University of Sergipe. An analytical, comparative, exploratory, cross - sectional, quantitative, non - probabilistic study with a population composed of undergraduate students from a Health Sciences Campus of the Federal University of Sergipe. Students in the nursing; pharmacy; physiotherapy; speech; language and hearing sciences; medicine; nutrition; dentistry and occupational therapy courses were part of the research. Among the inclusion criteria are: LGBT people, over 18 years of age, students with regular enrollment and who accepted to participate in the study by signing the Free and Informed Consent Term. Participants provided sociodemographic and quality of life information through the WHOQOL-BREF instrument. The WHOQOL-BREF examines four domains related to quality of life (physical, psychological, personal relationships and the environment. The responses followed the Likert scale (from 1 to 5, and the higher the score, the better the quality of life). 65 students with a mean age of 21.7 years old (± 3.4) participated in the study, of which, 22 (33.8%) were female and 43 (66.2%) were male. The means of responses and standard deviation in the physical, psychological, social and environmental domains were, respectively, 2.6 ± 0.6; 2.8 ± 0.7; 2.7 ± 0.7; 2.8 ± 0.6. This study aims to provide support for public policies aimed at the LGBT population, reaching the various spheres of our society, ensuring not only access, but also the permanence of this population group in different spaces, especially in the University, in a dignified, safe and healthy way.