{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,29]],"date-time":"2026-01-29T14:42:53Z","timestamp":1769697773309,"version":"3.49.0"},"reference-count":26,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"8","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,8,16]],"date-time":"2025-08-16T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1755302400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["IJERPH"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background\/Objectives: There is still debate about students\u2019 health in medical schools. The aim of this study was to assess the proportion of chronic diseases among medical students and analyze their predictors. Methods: We performed a secondary cross-sectional analysis using a database from a single Portuguese university. The sociodemographic\/clinical variables of 309 medical students were included. Logistic regression was performed to ascertain the effects of sex, age, medical course year, financial situation, and family history of chronic diseases on the likelihood of medical students having chronic disease. Results: Median age (Q1, Q3) was 21 (17, 43) years, with females comprising 79.9% of the sample. The distribution of students by school year was similar. The majority (65.7%) reported having sufficient money. Twenty-three percent suffered from chronic disease, and around forty percent had parents or siblings with chronic disease. In the regression model, only a family history of chronic disease was associated with a personal history of chronic disease. Medical students with parents or siblings who have a chronic disease are 3.3 times more likely to have a chronic disease themselves. Conclusions: Future interventions targeting the medical student population will be needed in Portugal to reduce the prevalence and burden of chronic diseases, particularly among those with a positive family history.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/ijerph22081282","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,8,18]],"date-time":"2025-08-18T07:53:12Z","timestamp":1755503592000},"page":"1282","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["Do Medical Students Suffer from Chronic Diseases? A Secondary Cross-Sectional Analysis of a Medical School in Portugal"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"22","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-2849-5194","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Filipe","family":"Prazeres","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Beira Interior, 6200-506 Covilh\u00e3, Portugal"},{"name":"Family Health Unit Beira Ria, 3830-596 Gafanha da Nazar\u00e9, Portugal"},{"name":"RISE-Health, Department of Community Medicine, Information and Health Decision Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, University of Porto, 4200-450 Porto, Portugal"}]},{"given":"Diogo","family":"Maia","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Beira Interior, 6200-506 Covilh\u00e3, Portugal"}]},{"given":"Marta","family":"Duarte","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Beira Interior, 6200-506 Covilh\u00e3, Portugal"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,8,16]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"341","DOI":"10.4103\/amhsr.amhsr_469_15","article-title":"Health Status and Lifestyle Habits of US Medical Students: A Longitudinal Study","volume":"6","author":"Brehm","year":"2016","journal-title":"Ann. 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