Potential Factors Influencing the Academic Performance of Pharmacy Undergraduates at Umm Al-Qura University: A Cross-Sectional Survey

Potential Factors Influencing the Academic Performance of Pharmacy Undergraduates at Umm Al-Qura University: A Cross-Sectional Survey | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Potential Factors Influencing the Academic Performance of Pharmacy Undergraduates at Umm Al-Qura University: A Cross-Sectional Survey Abrar Fayez Alshehri, Abdullah Sameer Alshammari, Abdulfattah Yahya Alhazmi This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-6087526/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Published Journal Publication published 14 Mar, 2026 Read the published version in BMC Medical Education → Version 1 posted 18 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Introduction: Academic performance plays an important role in giving an idea of the ability of university students to keep up with the labor market. Therefore, it was important to study the factors that improve academic performance among university students. This study addresses the factors that influence academic performance among pharmacy students in Saudi Arabia and their impact on grade point averages (GPAs). Method: This cross-sectional study was conducted among undergraduate pharmacy students from the College of Pharmacy, Umm Al-Qura University. The participants were students in years 2–6. Data were collected electronically using Google Forms and included information on gender, study level, social status, family status, economic status, transportation, entertainment, lifestyle, social activity, sleeping habits, motivation, studying, vacation habits, exam habits, and finally academic resilience of the students. The Pearson Chi-square test was used to assess the relationship between potential factors and GPAs. Results: A total of 251 questionnaires were collected for this study. Notable associations were observed between academic performance and variables such as gender, study level, students’ monthly income, transportation (e.g. method of transportation, and responsibility for family transportation), time allocated to hobbies, motivation, and factors affecting studying such as study habits, study hours, and lecture attendance. However, no significant link was found between student GPAs and social status, family status, entertainment, lifestyle, social activity, sleeping habits, vacation habits, exam habits or academic resilience. Conclusion: High GPAs are associated with factors such as gender, year of college, economic status, transportation, hobbies, motivation, and study factors among pharmacy students. Factor GPA Pharmacy Survey Undergraduate. 1. Introduction Improving academic performance among pharmacy students has become a international priority. Smith et al., 2007, Alrakaf et al., 2015, Hall et al., 2015, Ubaka et al., 2015, and Okogbaa et al., 2020 have identified key determinants of academic success, such as job-related characteristics, mastery-oriented approaches, proficiency in English, employment in non-pharmaceutical fields, and effective time management strategies. [1-5] However, Hall et al., 2015, Alqudah et al., 2019, Okogbaa et al., 2020 identify factors such as work-avoidance strategies, high workloads, and sleeplessness have been associated with suboptimal academic performance. [3, 5, 6] The impact of social and lifestyle choices on academic performance remains uncertain. In the Yamamoto and Ishii 2020 study, approximately half of the pharmacy students surveyed reported using energy drinks before exams, while more than 80% consumed coffee; although no significant correlation was found among these habits and academic achievement. [7] Similarly, in the Ghassemi et al., 2019 study, there was no significant link among personality types, social media use, reading proficiency, and academic achievement among third-year pharmacy students. [8] However, anxiety which affects 49% of the student population has been linked to poor academic performance by the Panthee et al., 2010, Ubaka et al., 2015, Samreen et al., 2020. [4, 9, 10] The Silva and Figueiredo-Braga 2019, Spivey et al., 2020 identify gender differences as factor that influencing student’s GPA. Although female students often experience higher levels of stress, burnout, and emotional fatigue, they often achieve higher academic success and have better time management and more effective study habits compared to male students. [11, 12] In contrast, the Hall et al., 2015, Ubaka et al., 2015, Spivey et al., 2020 found that male students are more likely to perform better in the Pharmacy Curriculum Outcomes Assessment. [3, 4, 12] The Al Shawwa et al., 2015 study extensively examines the potential factors influencing medical students' academic achievement. They found that factors such as student responsibilities to their family, motivation, English proficiency, studying habit, and studying method, and vacation habits influence academic achievement. [13] Academic resilience, which is the ability to overcome academic challenges and stress to achieve good educational outcomes, is believed to affect pharmacy student performance. A valid and reliable instrument have been by the Chisholm-Burns et al., 2019, which developed to assess the influence of academic resilience on academic performance on first, second, and third-year pharmacy students, this tool called Academic Pharmacy Resilience Scale (APRS-16). [14] The Chisholm-Burns et al., 2021 used examined the APRS-16 tool on the first-year pharmacy students, showed no significant association between academic resilience and performance in mathematics course. [15] In general, there are no sufficient data on the literature about the posable factors that may affect the academic performance of pharmacy students’. Moreover, academic resilience was not studies well on pharmacy students. Hence, this study investigated the impact of potential factors on grade point averages (GPAs) at Umm Al-Qura University in Makkah, Saudi Arabia. The study aimed to increase understanding of these factors to help develop strategies to improve the academic performance of pharmacy undergraduates. 2. Method This cross-sectional study was conducted between January and March 2022 at the Faculty of Pharmacy, Umm Al-Qura University, in Saudi Arabia. The study included undergraduate pharmacy students in their second to sixth years of study. First-year students, graduates, and post-graduate pharmacy students were excluded. 2.1 Sample size: Out of 707 eligible students, the total number of participants was 251, resulting in a response rate of 35.5%. The minimum recommended sample size was 250, with a 95% confidence interval (CI) calculated using the Raosoft® online sample calculator. 2.2 Data collection methods, instruments used, and measurements: Data on potential risk variables influencing academic performance were collected through questionnaires, while academic performance was assessed using cumulative GPAs provided by the academic office. The average GPA among students was obtain from collage reports and was above 3.4 out of 4. Therefore, the GPAs were divided into two distinct categories: those with a higher GPA (cutoff of GPA 3.5 or higher) and those with lower a GPA (below 3.5). Responses were collected through Google Forms (https://2u.pw/pyOxG3Ta), which included an introductory letter describing participant consent, survey objectives, use of questionnaire outcomes, instructions for completion, confidentiality guarantees, voluntary nature of participation, the option to discontinue at any time and the estimated completion time. The first section of the questionnaire was adapted from a previous study [13]. It included minor modifications (Q23) and was validated through a pilot study of 15 students. The questionnaire comprised 36 elements that evaluated factors included information on gender, study level, social status, family status (e.g. family issues, and responsibility toward family), economic status (e.g. family and student income), transportation (e.g. method of transportation, responsibility for family transportation, and sharing transportation), entertainment (e.g. watching movies, using networking, and hobbies), lifestyle (e.g. smoking, caffeine consumption), social activity (e.g. socialization hours, extracurricular activity, and conferences attending), sleeping habits (e.g. sleeping hours, naps frequencies), motivation (e.g. seeking a scholarship or a job at the university), studying (e.g. group studying, English proficiency, studying time, studying resources, attendance, studying method, study difficulties, and study habits), vacation habits, exam habits, and finally academic resilience of the students. The second section of the questionnaire assess academic resilience that collected by a validated 16-items Likert Likely Scale (the Academic Pharmacy Resilience Scale, APRS-16) [14]. The list of GPAs was provided by the academic office to compare factors with academic performance. 2.3 Data Management and Analysis Plan: Raw data was collected, cleaned, and recorded in an Excel sheet. Descriptive and inferential statistics were performed using IBM® SPSS® V.28 (IBM Statistical Package for Social Sciences). Data analysis was formulated using descriptive and inferential statistical approaches. Table 1 shows the participants' basic information, including gender, study year, marital status, and GPA distribution. The Pearson Chi-square test was used to assess the relationship between potential factors and GPAs. Furthermore, multivariate statistical analysis was performed to compare the factors between students with different GPAs. The Kruskal–Wallis H test was used to compare GPA with student and family monthly income. Furthermore, multivariate statistical analysis was performed to compare the factors between students with different GPAs. Additional tests such as the Kolmogorov–Smirnov normality test and the Mann–Whitney U test were conducted to compare the mean ranking of students' GPAs between male and female students. 3. Results The findings indicated a significant association between academic achievement and several factors, gender, study level, monthly income of students, transportation (e.g. method of transportation, and responsibility for family transportation), and factors affecting studying such as study habits, study hours, and lecture attendance. However, no significant association was found between student GPAs and social status, family status, entertainment, lifestyle, social activity, sleeping habits, vacation habits, exam habits or academic resilience (Please see Additional file). Multiple regression analysis was conducted with social status, economic status, entertainment, social life, sleep factors, study habits, motivation and academic resilience are predictors of a student's GPA, F (7, 237) =2.848, p -value<0.01. 3.1 Baseline characteristics: There was a statistically significant disparity in terms of gender between the high and low GPA groups. Specifically, 27.7% of the male students achieved a GPA of ≥3.5, compared to 72.3% of female students. The findings indicate that female students are significantly more likely to have higher GPAs than their male counterparts ( p -value<0.0001, odds ratio [OR] = 3.54, 95% CI = 2.0–6.2). A statistically significant disparity was observed in terms of gender when examining high and low GPAs (Table 1). Furthermore, statistically significant disparities were observed in the distribution of students with a higher GPA based on their level of education ( p -value<0.0001). The percentages of students who obtained a higher average GPA compared to those with a lower average were as follows: 41.5% vs. 7% from the second year, 14.9% vs. 10.8% from the third year, 9.6% vs. 17.2% from the fourth year, 18.1% vs. 26.8% from the fifth year, and 16% vs. 38.2% from the sixth year (Table 1). There was no statistically significant differences in academic performance between students who are married and those who are unmarried ( p -value=0.177). However, most of the students were unmarried and the proportion of unmarried students with a higher GPA of 97.9% was slightly higher than those with a lower GPA of 94.3% (Table 1). 3.2 Social status and family status: There was no statistical difference in higher versus lower GPAs between students who lived with their families, students with family problems, or students who were socially responsible for caring for anyone in their family, p -value>0.05. Additionally, there was no significant difference in the percentage of number of family members who had a higher GPA compared to those who had a lower GPA, p -value=0.939 (Please see Additional file). 3.3 Economic status: There was a statistically significant association between a monthly income < SAR1000 and the achievement of a high GPA, p -value=0.013 (Table 2). A Kruskal–Wallis H test was then performed to examine the relationship between student monthly income and GPA. The results indicated a significant difference in GPA scores among income groups, H(2) = 15.497, p -value=0.001. Post-hoc analysis revealed that students with a monthly income SAR3000 had a mean rank GPA score of 3.26. The results of the post-hoc analysis indicate that students with a monthly income SAR3000, p -value= 0.017. However, there was no association between monthly income of the family and students’ GPA, p -value=0.489 (Table 2). Additionally, there was no statistically significant difference between students who were financially responsible for anyone in their family and those who were not, p -value= 0.378 (Table 2). 3.4 Transportation: There was a statistically significant association between the method of transportation and GPA, p -value<0.0001. A significant proportion of students (39.4%) who used a private driver as their primary method of transportation to campus exhibited a high GPA compared to those with a low GPA (17.8%). Students using public transportation, such as taxis and buses, were also more likely to have a high GPA (17%) compared to those with a low GPA (4.5%). Conversely, the majority of students who drove their own vehicles to university exhibited a low GPA compare with higher GPA (57.3% vs. 28.7%). Additionally, students who showed responsibility toward their families by helping with transportation exhibited a low GPA compare with higher GPA (28% vs. 18.1%), p -value=0.032. There was no statistically significant difference in sharing transportation with others and students' GPA (Table 3). 3.5 Entertainment: Regarding entertainment, there was no statistically significant difference between students' GPA and hours spent on watching movies, series, and music or hours spend on social media, p -value>0.05. However, there was a statistically significant correlation between time spend on hobbies and a higher likelihood of achieving a low GPA, p -value= 0.028 (Table 4). 3.6 Motivation: Motivation was a significant factor influencing students’ GPA, p < 0.0001. Motivation to enjoy studying and desire to get higher grades were significantly associated with higher GPA, with 51.1% vs. 32.5%, and 46.8% vs. 15.3%, respectively. Interestingly, students with family pressure and those seeking a scholarship were more likely to have a low GPA compare to high GPA, with 23.6% vs 16%, and 58.6% vs. 46.8%, respectively (Table 5). 4.7 Studying: In terms of studying, the results showed that studying alone was significantly associated with a higher GPA by 87.2% vs. 75.2%, p -value=0.028. Students with high GPAs stated they studied for longer hours during the day, where only 29.9% vs. 14.9% of students with low GPAs reported that they don’t study every day, p -value =0 043. Similarly, students with high GPAs stated they studied for longer hours during the weekend, where only 33.1% vs. 12.8% of students with low GPAs reported they don’t study every day, p -value=0.06. Attending lectures showed significant difference between the two groups, where 97.9% of students with a high GPA score attended more than 50% of lectures alongside 90.4% of low GPA score students, p -value=0.023. There was no statical significant between students’ GPA and other studying factors such as English proficiency, preferring specific study resources (e.g., internet, books, handout, etc.), studying method (e.g., mapping, note forming, highlighting, etc.), dealing with study difficulties, or study habits (e.g., eating snacks, favor a certain place, listening to Qur’an/music, etc.), p -value>0.05 (Please see Table 6 and Additional file). 4. Discussion Research in pharmacy education is essential to understand academic performance and identify variables that improve GPA. This study classified students according to GPA and both groups contained nearly equal proportions of male and female students. Most of the students were enrolled in their fifth and sixth academic years. Most of the students, n= 157 (62.5%), had a low GPA, while n=94 (37.5%) of students had a high GPA (Table 1). 4.1 Gender and level of the year: Gender is widely recognized as a significant factor in academic performance, and female students have a greater propensity to achieve higher GPAs and exhibit competence levels three times higher than male students. Although the Al-Shawa et al., 2015 did not show any effect of gender, the Ali and Naylor 2010, Timer and Clauson 2011, Wan Chik et al., 2012, and Salamonson et al., 2014 studies support the association between academic achievement and gender, indicating that female students often outperform their male counterparts in education. [13, 16-19] This discrepancy explained by the Steele and Aronson 1995, Spencer et al., 2016, Panadero et al., 2017, could be attributed to differences in study habits and academic motivation, as well as social and cultural norms and stereotypes. [20-22] Furthermore, the Silva et al., 2021, Haeuser et al., 2022 identify stress as perception that contribute to the academic success of female students, leading to high GPAs. [23, 24] The students in the first two years of the pharmacy course had significantly better GPAs compared to their counterparts in later years. This finding contrasts with the Al Shawwa et al., 2015, that indicates no correlation between academic achievement and the level of study. [13] Higher GPAs in the second year may imply an adjustment period during the first year, followed by an attainment decrease as educational demands increase. Factors contributing to this decline explained by Ali and Naylor 2010, Klassen et al., 2012, Alshammari et al., 2017, Ghassemi et al., 2019, may include a more rigorous curriculum and increased involvement in extracurricular activities. Although this study did not find a significant association between extracurricular activities and GPA. [8, 16, 25, 26] 4.2 Social status and family issue: The study did not find statistically significant differences in academic achievement between married and unmarried students, despite the limited representation of unmarried students. Most participants were single and the proportion of single students with lower GPAs was slightly greater than those with higher GPAs, similar to the findings in Al Shawwa et al., 2015 study that focused on medical students. [13] Furthermore, there was no significant difference by Christenson et al., 1992, Robinson 1993, Al Shawwa et al., 2015, in GPA between students who had family problems or had responsibilities to their families, which is in contrast to studies that found a negative association between family challenges and academic scholastic achievement. [13, 27, 28] 4.3 Economic status: Students with monthly incomes SAR1000 had lower GPAs. This suggests that a lower economic status can encourage motivation and urgency to achieve higher GPAs. This result contrasts with the Al Shawwa et al., 2015 study that found that monthly income was not a significant factor, p -value>0.05. [13] 4.4 Transportation: Students who used private drivers or public transportation had higher GPAs, while those driving their own vehicles had lower GPAs. Students whose families rely on them for transportation also performed lower academically. Therefore, adding transportation responsibilities to students' obligations may detract from their academic performance These results were almost identical to those of the Al Shawwa et al., 2015, in which they found no effect of transportation on GPA except for the effects of responsibility for transporting family members. [13] 4.5 Motivation: Motivational factors have been found to significantly influence academic performance, p -value<0.001. Students who enjoyed studying or consistently received good grades had higher GPAs, while those who sought scholarships had lower GPAs. This finding similar to the findings from Al Shawwa et al., 2015 involving medical students. [13] Furthermore, we found that family stress was associated with lower academic performance, and the Ubaka et al., 2015, Balogun et al., 2017, Wu et al., 2020, Aparisi et al., 2021 studies have supported that anxiety and stress impede academic performance. [4, 29-31] 4.6 Time spent in study and study habits: The study observed a positive correlation between study duration and academic performance. Students studying every day, or study during weekends had higher GPAs. Hence, group study activities could foster social interactions that distract from academic pursuits, a finding supported by Raychaudhuri et al., 2010. [32] Another interesting finding, which was similar to the Al Shawwa et al., 2015, was that students with low GPAs were more likely to study with a classmate or in a study group, while students with high GPAs preferred to study alone. The study showed no difference in longer study duration or study resources. On one hand, they found that poor English proficiency had a negative effect on GPA. On the other hand, they found an association between higher GPA and factors that influence studying such as study alone, solve problems independently, use specific study methods (e.g., highlighting, skimming, reading before memorizing), attend problem-based learning, and have specific study habits (e.g., ensuring that there are no interruptions, or preferring a specific body position). [13] 4.7 Entertainment: There was no significant correlation between high GPA and entertainment (e.g. watching movies, and using networking), consistent with Kirschner and Karpinski 2010, Bickerdike et al., 2016 studies that did not show an association between social media use and academic achievement. [33, 34] However, the Anand 2007, Junco 2012, Rosen et al., 2013, Al Shawwa et al., 2015 studies have found that social media and networking use negatively impacts academic performance. [13, 35-37] The Kuśnierz et al., 2020, Spivey et al., 2020, Wu et al., 2020, Aparisi et al., 2021, found that less involvement in hobbies was correlated with higher GPA, suggesting that hobbies may limit the time and energy available for academic pursuits. [30, 38-40] However, Al Shawwa et al., 2015 study found no significant effect of personal hobbies on academic performance. [13] 4.8 Academic resilience: The impact of academic resilience has not been well studied among college or pharmacy students. The Trigueros et al., 2020 study of undergraduate students showed that academic resilience positively predicted academic performance. [41] The Popa-Velea et al., 2021 study found a significant association between low resilience and poor academic performance in medical students. [42] However, our results showed no effect of better resilience on higher GPA. This finding was similar to the Chisholm-Burns et al., 2021 study of 374 first-year pharmacy students that found that performance in a mathematics course was not affected by academic resilience. [15] Hence, more studies needed to investigate the affect of resilience on pharmacy students (Please see Additional file). 4.9 Limitations: Although this study is one of the first to broadly assess the potential factors that affect the academic performance of pharmacy students, it has some limitations that should be discussed. The findings are based on associations and do not prove causation, it was conducted at a single college, it did not assess all possible factors such as part-time jobs and student age. Future studies should include larger sample sizes and multiple institutions to validate these findings and explore strategies to improve academic achievement. 5. Conclusion The results of this study suggest that several demographic factors, including gender, year of college, economic status, transportation, hobbies, motivation, and study factors, significantly influence the academic achievement of pharmacy students. Other factors such as social status, family status, entertainment, lifestyle, social activity, sleeping habits, vacation habits, exam habits, and academic resilience do not impact academic performance. These findings highlight the need to develop proactive strategies to mitigate or improve affecting factors, thereby improving academic guidance and helping pharmacy students develop professionally. To substantiate these findings, further research with larger sample sizes and more diverse populations is necessary. Abbreviations GPAs: grade point averages, APRS: Academic Pharmacy Resilience Scale. Declarations Declarations of interest: None. Clinical trial number: Not applicable. 6.2 Ethics approval: All data and students GPAs was confidentially used by research purposes only. An IRB approval was obtained prior to the start of the study from Biomedical Research Ethics Committee, Umm Al-Qura University. Approval No. (HAPO-02-K-012-2022-01-915). 6.3 Consent to participate: Responses were collected via Google Forms (https://2u.pw/pyOxG3Ta), which included the participant's consent, stating that "participation in this survey is voluntary and not mandatory, and the participant may stop completing the survey at any time." 6.4 Consent for publication : Responses were collected through Google Forms (https://2u.pw/pyOxG3Ta), which included confidentiality guarantees. Stating that "information will be collected for research purposes only, and all participants in this survey will be confidential and will not be disclosed." 6.5 Availability of data and materials Data is available on request due to privacy/ethical restrictions. The data that support the findings of this study are available on request from the corresponding author, [AFA]. The data are not publicly available due to containing information that could compromise the privacy of research participants. 6.6 Competing Interests: The authors declare no competing interest 6.6 Funding: The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. 6.7 Authors' contributions: A.F.A: Conceptualization, Data curation, Formal analysis, Investigation, Methodology, Project administration, Resources, Software, Supervision, Validation, Visualization, Writing - original draft, Writing - review & editing. A.S.A: Data curation, Validation, Writing - original draft, Writing - review & editing. A.Y.A: Formal analysis, Software, Validation, Writing review & editing. 6.8 Acknowledgments: The study was part of a graduation project completed by Pharm D. Students, Ahmed H. Ojaimi, Badr A. Bosi, and Mohamed E. Aboshanab. 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Examining Gender Differences, Personality Traits, Academic Performance, and Motivation in Ukrainian and Polish Students of Physical Education: A Cross-Cultural Study. Int J Environ Res Public Health 2020, 17(16). Spivey CA, Chisholm-Burns MA, Johnson JL. Factors associated with student pharmacists’ academic progression and performance on the national licensure examination. Am J Pharm Educ 2020, 84(2). Aparisi D, Delgado B, Bo RM, Martínez-Monteagudo MC. Relationship between Cyberbullying, Motivation and Learning Strategies, Academic Performance, and the Ability to Adapt to University. Int J Environ Res Public Health 2021, 18(20). Trigueros R, Padilla A, Aguilar-Parra JM, Mercader I, López-Liria R, Rocamora P. The Influence of Transformational Teacher Leadership on Academic Motivation and Resilience, Burnout and Academic Performance. Int J Environ Res Public Health 2020, 17(20). Popa-Velea O, Pîrvan I, Diaconescu LV. The Impact of Self-Efficacy, Optimism, Resilience and Perceived Stress on Academic Performance and Its Subjective Evaluation: A Cross-Sectional Study. Int J Environ Res Public Health 2021, 18(17). Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. 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Introduction","content":"\u003cp\u003eImproving academic performance among pharmacy students has become a international priority. Smith et al., 2007, Alrakaf et al., 2015, Hall et al., 2015, Ubaka et al., 2015, and Okogbaa et al., 2020 have identified key determinants of academic success, such as job-related characteristics, mastery-oriented approaches, proficiency in English, employment in non-pharmaceutical fields, and effective time management strategies. [1-5] However, Hall et al., 2015, Alqudah et al., 2019, Okogbaa et al., 2020 identify factors such as work-avoidance strategies, high workloads, and sleeplessness have been associated with suboptimal academic performance. [3, 5, 6] The impact of social and lifestyle choices on academic performance remains uncertain. In the Yamamoto and Ishii 2020 study, approximately half of the pharmacy students surveyed reported using energy drinks before exams, while more than 80% consumed coffee; although no significant correlation was found among these habits and academic achievement. [7] Similarly, in the Ghassemi et al., 2019 study, there was no significant link among personality types, social media use, reading proficiency, and academic achievement among third-year pharmacy students. [8] However, anxiety which affects 49% of the student population has been linked to poor academic performance by the Panthee et al., 2010, Ubaka et al., 2015, Samreen et al., 2020. [4, 9, 10] The Silva and Figueiredo-Braga 2019, Spivey et al., 2020 identify gender differences as factor that influencing student’s GPA. Although female students often experience higher levels of stress, burnout, and emotional fatigue, they often achieve higher academic success and have better time management and more effective study habits compared to male students. [11, 12] In contrast, the Hall et al., 2015, Ubaka et al., 2015, Spivey et al., 2020 found that male students are more likely to perform better in the Pharmacy Curriculum Outcomes Assessment. [3, 4, 12] The Al Shawwa et al., 2015 study extensively examines the potential factors influencing medical students' academic achievement. They found that factors such as student responsibilities to their family, motivation, English proficiency, studying habit, and studying method, and vacation habits influence academic achievement. [13] Academic resilience, which is the ability to overcome academic challenges and stress to achieve good educational outcomes, is believed to affect pharmacy student performance. A valid and reliable instrument have been by the Chisholm-Burns et al., 2019, which developed to assess the influence of academic resilience on academic performance on first, second, and third-year pharmacy students, this tool called \u0026nbsp;Academic Pharmacy Resilience Scale (APRS-16). [14] The Chisholm-Burns et al., 2021 used examined the APRS-16 tool on the first-year pharmacy students, showed no significant association between academic resilience and performance \u0026nbsp;in mathematics course. [15] In general, there are no sufficient data on the literature about the posable factors that may affect the academic performance of pharmacy students’. Moreover, academic resilience was not studies well on pharmacy students. Hence, this study investigated the impact of potential factors on grade point averages (GPAs) at Umm Al-Qura University in Makkah, Saudi Arabia. The study aimed to increase understanding of these factors to help develop strategies to improve the academic performance of pharmacy undergraduates.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"2. Method","content":"\u003cp\u003eThis cross-sectional study was conducted between January and March 2022 at the Faculty of Pharmacy, Umm Al-Qura University, in Saudi Arabia. The study included undergraduate pharmacy students in their second to sixth years of study. First-year students, graduates, and post-graduate pharmacy students were excluded.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e2.1 Sample size:\u0026nbsp;\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOut of 707 eligible students, the total number of participants was 251, resulting in a response rate of 35.5%. The minimum recommended sample size was 250, with a 95% confidence interval (CI) calculated using the Raosoft® online sample calculator.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e2.2 Data collection methods, instruments used, and measurements:\u0026nbsp;\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eData on potential risk variables influencing academic performance were collected through questionnaires, while academic performance was assessed using cumulative GPAs provided by the academic office. The average GPA among students was obtain from collage reports and was above 3.4 out of 4. Therefore, the GPAs were divided into two distinct categories: those with a higher GPA (cutoff of GPA 3.5 or higher) and those with lower a GPA (below 3.5). Responses were collected through Google Forms (https://2u.pw/pyOxG3Ta), which included an introductory letter describing participant consent, survey objectives, use of questionnaire outcomes, instructions for completion, confidentiality guarantees, voluntary nature of participation, the option to discontinue at any time and the estimated completion time.\u0026nbsp;The\u0026nbsp; first section of the\u0026nbsp;questionnaire was adapted from a previous study [13]. It included minor modifications (Q23) and was validated through a pilot study of 15 students. The questionnaire comprised 36 elements that evaluated factors included information on gender, study level, social status, family status (e.g. family issues, and responsibility toward family), economic status (e.g. family and student income), transportation (e.g. method of transportation, responsibility for family transportation, and sharing transportation), entertainment (e.g. watching movies, using networking, and hobbies), lifestyle (e.g. smoking, caffeine consumption), social activity (e.g. socialization hours, extracurricular activity, and conferences attending), sleeping habits (e.g. sleeping hours, naps frequencies), motivation (e.g. seeking a scholarship or a job at the university), studying (e.g. group studying, English proficiency, studying time, studying resources, attendance, studying method, study difficulties, and study habits), vacation habits, exam habits, and finally academic resilience of the students. The second section of the questionnaire assess academic resilience that collected by a validated 16-items Likert Likely Scale (the Academic Pharmacy Resilience Scale, APRS-16) [14]. The list of GPAs was provided by the academic office to compare factors with academic performance.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e2.3 Data Management and Analysis Plan:\u0026nbsp;\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eRaw data was collected, cleaned, and recorded in an Excel sheet. Descriptive and inferential statistics were performed using IBM® SPSS® V.28 (IBM Statistical Package for Social Sciences). Data analysis was formulated using descriptive and inferential statistical approaches. Table 1 shows the participants' basic information, including gender, study year, marital status, and GPA distribution. The Pearson Chi-square test was used to assess the relationship between potential factors and GPAs. Furthermore, multivariate statistical analysis was performed to compare the factors between students with different GPAs. The Kruskal–Wallis H test was used to compare GPA with student and family monthly income. Furthermore, multivariate statistical analysis was performed to compare the factors between students with different GPAs. Additional tests such as the Kolmogorov–Smirnov normality test and the Mann–Whitney U test were conducted to compare the mean ranking of students' GPAs between male and female students.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"3. Results","content":"\u003cp\u003eThe findings indicated a significant association between academic achievement and several factors, gender, study level, monthly income of students, transportation (e.g. method of transportation, and responsibility for family transportation), and factors affecting studying such as study habits, study hours, and lecture attendance. However, no significant association was found between student GPAs and social status, family status, entertainment, lifestyle, social activity, sleeping habits, vacation habits, exam habits or academic resilience (Please see Additional file). Multiple regression analysis was conducted with social status, economic status, entertainment, social life, sleep factors, study habits, motivation and academic resilience are predictors of a student's GPA, F (7, 237) =2.848, \u003cem\u003ep\u003c/em\u003e-value\u0026lt;0.01.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e3.1 Baseline characteristics:\u0026nbsp;\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThere was a statistically significant disparity in terms of gender between the high and low GPA groups. Specifically, 27.7% of the male students achieved a GPA of ≥3.5, compared to 72.3% of female students. The findings indicate that female students are significantly more likely to have higher GPAs than their male counterparts (\u003cem\u003ep\u003c/em\u003e-value\u0026lt;0.0001, odds ratio [OR] = 3.54, 95% CI = 2.0–6.2). A statistically significant disparity was observed in terms of gender when examining high and low GPAs (Table 1). Furthermore, statistically significant disparities were observed in the distribution of students with a higher GPA based on their level of education (\u003cem\u003ep\u003c/em\u003e-value\u0026lt;0.0001). The percentages of students who obtained a higher average GPA compared to those with a lower average were as follows: 41.5% vs. 7% from the second year, 14.9% vs. 10.8% from the third year, 9.6% vs. 17.2% from the fourth year, 18.1% vs. 26.8% from the fifth year, and 16% vs. 38.2% from the sixth year (Table 1). There was no statistically significant differences in academic performance between students who are married and those who are unmarried (\u003cem\u003ep\u003c/em\u003e-value=0.177). However, most of the students were unmarried and the proportion of unmarried students with a higher GPA of 97.9% was slightly higher than those with a lower GPA of 94.3% (Table 1).\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e3.2 Social status and family status:\u0026nbsp;\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThere was no statistical difference in higher versus lower GPAs between students who lived with their families, students with family problems, or students who were socially responsible for caring for anyone in their family, \u003cem\u003ep\u003c/em\u003e-value\u0026gt;0.05. Additionally, there was no significant difference in the percentage of number of family members who had a higher GPA compared to those who had a lower GPA, \u003cem\u003ep\u003c/em\u003e-value=0.939 (Please see Additional file).\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e3.3 Economic status:\u0026nbsp;\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThere was a statistically significant association between a monthly income \u0026lt; SAR1000 and the achievement of a high GPA, \u003cem\u003ep\u003c/em\u003e-value=0.013 (Table 2). A Kruskal–Wallis H test was then performed to examine the relationship between student monthly income and GPA. The results indicated a significant difference in GPA scores among income groups, H(2) = 15.497, \u003cem\u003ep\u003c/em\u003e-value=0.001. Post-hoc analysis revealed that students with a monthly income \u0026lt;SAR1000 had a mean rank GPA score of 3.47, students with a monthly income of SAR1000–SAR3000 had a mean rank GPA score of 3.28, and students with a monthly income \u0026gt; SAR3000 had a mean rank GPA score of 3.26. The results of the post-hoc analysis indicate that students with a monthly income \u0026lt;SAR1000 exhibit higher GPAs compared to students with a monthly income of SAR1000–SAR3000, \u003cem\u003ep\u003c/em\u003e-value=0.009, as well as those with a monthly income \u0026gt; SAR3000, \u003cem\u003ep\u003c/em\u003e-value= 0.017. However, there was no association between monthly income of the family and students’ GPA, \u003cem\u003ep\u003c/em\u003e-value=0.489 (Table 2). Additionally, there was no statistically significant difference between students who were financially responsible for anyone in their family and those who were not, \u003cem\u003ep\u003c/em\u003e-value= 0.378 (Table 2).\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e3.4 Transportation:\u0026nbsp;\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThere was a statistically significant association between the method of transportation and GPA, \u003cem\u003ep\u003c/em\u003e-value\u0026lt;0.0001. A significant proportion of students (39.4%) who used a private driver as their primary method of transportation to campus exhibited a high GPA compared to those with a low GPA (17.8%). Students using public transportation, such as taxis and buses, were also more likely to have a high GPA (17%) compared to those with a low GPA (4.5%). Conversely, the majority of students who drove their own vehicles to university exhibited a low GPA compare with higher GPA (57.3% vs. 28.7%). Additionally, students who showed responsibility toward their families by helping with transportation exhibited a low GPA compare with higher GPA (28% vs. 18.1%),\u003cem\u003e\u0026nbsp;p\u003c/em\u003e-value=0.032. There was no statistically significant difference in sharing transportation with others and students' GPA (Table 3).\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e3.5 Entertainment:\u0026nbsp;\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eRegarding entertainment, there was no statistically significant difference between students' GPA and hours spent on watching movies, series, and music or hours spend on social media,\u0026nbsp;\u003cem\u003ep\u003c/em\u003e-value\u0026gt;0.05. However, there was a statistically significant correlation between time spend on hobbies and a higher likelihood of achieving a low GPA, \u003cem\u003ep\u003c/em\u003e-value= 0.028 (Table 4). \u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e3.6 Motivation:\u0026nbsp;\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMotivation was a significant factor influencing students’ GPA, p \u0026lt; 0.0001. Motivation to enjoy studying and desire to get higher grades were significantly associated with higher GPA, with 51.1% vs. 32.5%, and 46.8% vs. 15.3%, respectively. Interestingly, students with family pressure and those seeking a scholarship were more likely to have a low GPA compare to high GPA, with 23.6% vs 16%, and 58.6% vs. 46.8%, respectively (Table 5).\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e4.7 Studying:\u0026nbsp;\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn terms of studying, the results showed that studying alone was significantly associated with a higher GPA by 87.2% vs. 75.2%, \u003cem\u003ep\u003c/em\u003e -value=0.028. Students with high GPAs stated they studied for longer hours during the day, where only 29.9% vs. 14.9% of students with low GPAs reported that they don’t study every day, \u003cem\u003ep\u003c/em\u003e-value =0 043. Similarly, students with high GPAs stated they studied for longer hours during the weekend, where only 33.1% vs. 12.8% of students with low GPAs reported they don’t study every day, \u003cem\u003ep\u003c/em\u003e-value=0.06. Attending lectures showed significant difference between the two groups, where 97.9% of students with a high GPA score attended more than 50% of lectures alongside 90.4% of low GPA score students, \u003cem\u003ep\u003c/em\u003e-value=0.023. There was no statical significant between students’ GPA and other studying factors such as English proficiency, preferring specific study resources (e.g., internet, books, handout, etc.), studying method (e.g., mapping, note forming, highlighting, etc.), dealing with study difficulties, or study habits (e.g., eating snacks, favor a certain place, listening to Qur’an/music, etc.), \u003cem\u003ep\u003c/em\u003e-value\u0026gt;0.05 (Please see Table 6 and Additional file).\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"4. Discussion","content":"\u003cp\u003eResearch in pharmacy education is essential to understand academic performance and identify variables that improve GPA. This study classified students according to GPA and both groups contained nearly equal proportions of male and female students. Most of the students were enrolled in their fifth and sixth academic years. Most of the students, n= 157 (62.5%), had a low GPA, while n=94 (37.5%) of students had a high GPA (Table 1).\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e4.1 Gender and level of the year:\u0026nbsp;\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eGender is widely recognized as a significant factor in academic performance, and female students have a greater propensity to achieve higher GPAs and exhibit competence levels three times higher than male students. Although the Al-Shawa et al., 2015 did not show any effect of gender, the Ali and Naylor 2010, Timer and Clauson 2011, Wan Chik et al., 2012, and Salamonson et al., 2014 studies support the association between academic achievement and gender, indicating that female students often outperform their male counterparts in education.\u0026nbsp;[13, 16-19] This discrepancy explained by the Steele and Aronson 1995, Spencer et al., 2016, Panadero et al., 2017, could be attributed to differences in study habits and academic motivation, as well as social and cultural norms and stereotypes.\u0026nbsp;[20-22] Furthermore, the Silva et al., 2021, Haeuser et al., 2022 identify stress as perception that contribute to the academic success of female students, leading to high GPAs. [23, 24]\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe students in the first two years of the pharmacy course had significantly better GPAs compared to their counterparts in later years. This finding contrasts with the Al Shawwa et al., 2015, that indicates no correlation between academic achievement and the level of study.\u0026nbsp;[13] Higher GPAs in the second year may imply an adjustment period during the first year, followed by an attainment decrease as educational demands increase. Factors contributing to this decline explained by Ali and Naylor 2010, Klassen et al., 2012, Alshammari et al., 2017, Ghassemi et al., 2019, may include a more rigorous curriculum and increased involvement in extracurricular activities. Although this study did not find a significant association between extracurricular activities and GPA.\u0026nbsp;[8, 16, 25, 26]\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e4.2 Social status and family issue:\u0026nbsp;\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe study did not find statistically significant differences in academic achievement between married and unmarried students, despite the limited representation of unmarried students. Most participants were single and the proportion of single students with lower GPAs was slightly greater than those with higher GPAs, similar to the findings in Al Shawwa et al., 2015 study that focused on medical students.\u0026nbsp;[13] Furthermore, there was no significant difference by Christenson et al., 1992, Robinson 1993, Al Shawwa et al., 2015, in GPA between students who had family problems or had responsibilities to their families, which is in contrast to studies that found a negative association between family challenges and academic scholastic achievement.\u0026nbsp;[13, 27, 28]\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e4.3 Economic status:\u0026nbsp;\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eStudents with monthly incomes \u0026lt;SAR1000 had higher GPAs, while those with incomes \u0026gt;SAR1000 had lower GPAs. This suggests that a lower economic status can encourage motivation and urgency to achieve higher GPAs. This result contrasts with the Al Shawwa et al., 2015 study that found that monthly income was not a significant factor, \u003cem\u003ep\u003c/em\u003e-value\u0026gt;0.05.\u0026nbsp;[13]\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e4.4 Transportation:\u0026nbsp;\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eStudents who used private drivers or public transportation had higher GPAs, while those driving their own vehicles had lower GPAs. Students whose families rely on them for transportation also performed lower academically. Therefore, adding transportation responsibilities to students' obligations may detract from their academic performance These results were almost identical to those of the Al Shawwa et al., 2015, in which they found no effect of transportation on GPA except for the effects of responsibility for transporting family members.\u0026nbsp;[13]\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e4.5 Motivation:\u0026nbsp;\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMotivational factors have been found to significantly influence academic performance,\u0026nbsp;\u003cem\u003ep\u003c/em\u003e-value\u0026lt;0.001. Students who enjoyed studying or consistently received good grades had higher GPAs, while those who sought scholarships had lower GPAs. This finding similar to the findings from Al Shawwa et al., 2015 involving medical students. [13] Furthermore, we found that family stress was associated with lower academic performance, and the Ubaka et al., 2015, Balogun et al., 2017, Wu et al., 2020, Aparisi et al., 2021 studies have supported that anxiety and stress impede academic performance. [4, 29-31]\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e4.6 Time spent in study and study habits:\u0026nbsp;\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe study observed a positive correlation between study duration and academic performance. Students studying every day, or study during weekends had higher GPAs. Hence, group study activities could foster social interactions that distract from academic pursuits, a finding supported by Raychaudhuri et al., 2010.\u0026nbsp;[32] Another interesting finding, which was similar to the Al Shawwa et al., 2015, was that students with low GPAs were more likely to study with a classmate or in a study group, while students with high GPAs preferred to study alone. The study showed no difference in longer study duration or study resources. On one hand, they found that poor English proficiency had a negative effect on GPA. On the other hand, they found an association between higher GPA and factors that influence studying such as study alone, solve problems independently, use specific study methods (e.g., highlighting, skimming, reading before memorizing), attend problem-based learning, and have specific study habits (e.g., ensuring that there are no interruptions, or preferring a specific body position).\u0026nbsp;[13]\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e4.7 Entertainment:\u0026nbsp;\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThere was no significant correlation between high GPA and entertainment (e.g. watching movies, and using networking), consistent with Kirschner and Karpinski 2010, Bickerdike et al., 2016 studies that did not show an association between social media use and academic achievement.\u0026nbsp;[33, 34] However, the Anand 2007, Junco 2012, Rosen et al., 2013, Al Shawwa et al., 2015 studies have found that social media and networking use negatively impacts academic performance.\u0026nbsp;[13, 35-37] The Kuśnierz et al., 2020, Spivey et al., 2020, Wu et al., 2020, Aparisi et al., 2021, found that less involvement in hobbies was correlated with higher GPA, suggesting that hobbies may limit the time and energy available for academic pursuits.\u0026nbsp;[30, 38-40] However, Al Shawwa et al., 2015 study found no significant effect of personal hobbies on academic performance.\u0026nbsp;[13]\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e4.8 Academic resilience:\u003c/strong\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe impact of academic resilience has not been well studied among college or pharmacy students. The Trigueros et al., 2020 study of undergraduate students showed that academic resilience positively predicted academic performance. [41] The Popa-Velea et al., 2021 study found a significant association between low resilience and poor academic performance in medical students. [42] However, our results showed no effect of better resilience on higher GPA. This finding was similar to the Chisholm-Burns et al., 2021 study of 374 first-year pharmacy students that found that performance in a mathematics course was not affected by academic resilience.\u0026nbsp;[15] Hence, more studies needed to investigate the affect of resilience on pharmacy students (Please see Additional file).\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e4.9 Limitations:\u0026nbsp;\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAlthough this study is one of the first to broadly assess the potential factors that affect the academic performance of pharmacy students, it has some limitations that should be discussed. The findings are based on associations and do not prove causation, it was conducted at a single college, it did not assess all possible factors such as part-time jobs and student age. Future studies should include larger sample sizes and multiple institutions to validate these findings and explore strategies to improve academic achievement.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"5. Conclusion","content":"\u003cp\u003eThe results of this study suggest that several demographic factors, including gender, year of college, economic status, transportation, hobbies, motivation, and study factors, significantly influence the academic achievement of pharmacy students. Other factors such as social status, family status, entertainment, lifestyle, social activity, sleeping habits, vacation habits, exam habits, and academic resilience do not impact academic performance. These findings highlight the need to develop proactive strategies to mitigate or improve affecting factors, thereby improving academic guidance and helping pharmacy students develop professionally. To substantiate these findings, further research with larger sample sizes and more diverse populations is necessary.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"Abbreviations","content":"\u003cp\u003eGPAs: grade point averages, APRS: Academic Pharmacy Resilience Scale.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"Declarations","content":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eDeclarations of interest:\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNone.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eClinical trial number: \u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNot applicable.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e6.2 Ethics approval: \u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAll data and students GPAs was confidentially used by research purposes only. An IRB approval was obtained prior to the start of the study from Biomedical Research Ethics Committee, Umm Al-Qura University. Approval No. (HAPO-02-K-012-2022-01-915).\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e6.3 Consent to participate: \u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eResponses were collected via Google Forms (https://2u.pw/pyOxG3Ta), which included the participant's consent, stating that \"participation in this survey is voluntary and not mandatory, and the participant may stop completing the survey at any time.\"\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e6.4 Consent for publication :\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eResponses were collected through Google Forms (https://2u.pw/pyOxG3Ta), which included confidentiality guarantees. Stating that \"information will be collected for research purposes only, and all participants in this survey will be confidential and will not be disclosed.\"\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e6.5 Availability of data and materials \u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eData is available on request due to privacy/ethical restrictions. The data that support the findings of this study are available on request from the corresponding author, [AFA]. The data are not publicly available due to containing information that could compromise the privacy of research participants.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e6.6 Competing Interests: \u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe authors declare no competing interest\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e6.6 Funding: \u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e6.7 Authors' contributions: \u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;A.F.A: Conceptualization, Data curation, Formal analysis, Investigation, Methodology, Project administration, Resources, Software, Supervision, Validation, Visualization, Writing - original draft, Writing - review \u0026amp; editing. \u0026nbsp;A.S.A: Data curation, Validation, Writing - original draft, Writing - review \u0026amp; editing. \u0026nbsp;A.Y.A: Formal analysis, Software, Validation, Writing review \u0026amp; editing.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e6.8 Acknowledgments:\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe study was part of a graduation project completed by Pharm D. Students, Ahmed H. Ojaimi, Badr A. Bosi, and Mohamed E. Aboshanab. The role of the students was to collect data, and the principal investigator supervised them.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"References","content":"\u003col\u003e\u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eSmith L, Saini B, Krass I, Chen T, Bosnic-Anticevich S, Sainsbury E. Pharmacy students' approaches to learning in an Australian university. Am J Pharm Educ 2007, 71(6).\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eAlrakaf S, Anderson C, Coulman SA, John DN, Tordoff J, Sainsbury E, Rose G, Smith L. An international comparison study of pharmacy students\u0026rsquo; achievement goals and their relationship to assessment type and scores. Am J Pharm Educ. 2015;79(3):35.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eHall M, Hanna L-A, Hanna A, Hall K. Associations between achievement goal orientations and academic performance among students at a UK pharmacy school. 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Int J Environ Res Public Health 2021, 18(17).\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\u003c/ol\u003e"}],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":true,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":false,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":true,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":false,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":false,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"bmc-medical-education","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"meed","sideBox":"Learn more about [BMC Medical Education](http://bmcmededuc.biomedcentral.com/)","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"https://www.editorialmanager.com/meed/default.aspx","title":"BMC Medical Education","twitterHandle":"BMC_series","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"em","reportingPortfolio":"BMC Series","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"Factor, GPA, Pharmacy, Survey, Undergraduate.","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-6087526/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-6087526/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"Introduction:\nAcademic performance plays an important role in giving an idea of the ability of university students to keep up with the labor market. Therefore, it was important to study the factors that improve academic performance among university students. This study addresses the factors that influence academic performance among pharmacy students in Saudi Arabia and their impact on grade point averages (GPAs).\nMethod:\nThis cross-sectional study was conducted among undergraduate pharmacy students from the College of Pharmacy, Umm Al-Qura University. The participants were students in years 2–6. Data were collected electronically using Google Forms and included information on gender, study level, social status, family status, economic status, transportation, entertainment, lifestyle, social activity, sleeping habits, motivation, studying, vacation habits, exam habits, and finally academic resilience of the students. The Pearson Chi-square test was used to assess the relationship between potential factors and GPAs.\nResults:\nA total of 251 questionnaires were collected for this study. Notable associations were observed between academic performance and variables such as gender, study level, students’ monthly income, transportation (e.g. method of transportation, and responsibility for family transportation), time allocated to hobbies, motivation, and factors affecting studying such as study habits, study hours, and lecture attendance. However, no significant link was found between student GPAs and social status, family status, entertainment, lifestyle, social activity, sleeping habits, vacation habits, exam habits or academic resilience.\nConclusion:\nHigh GPAs are associated with factors such as gender, year of college, economic status, transportation, hobbies, motivation, and study factors among pharmacy students.","manuscriptTitle":"Potential Factors Influencing the Academic Performance of Pharmacy Undergraduates at Umm Al-Qura University: A Cross-Sectional Survey","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2025-04-15 15:22:00","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-6087526/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0},{"type":"decision","content":"Revision requested","date":"2025-11-11T05:57:24+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"156443129016242236837483586184341320194","date":"2025-11-09T09:40:17+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvitedReview","content":"","date":"2025-11-07T12:27:29+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"48048398857779386088052987204685895955","date":"2025-11-07T01:49:08+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"193142273325404748289609663826925172227","date":"2025-11-06T08:31:37+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"178993683000244589517856079323519781091","date":"2025-11-05T10:55:27+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"302234441976235320480401993272126779180","date":"2025-11-01T09:21:17+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"63622071060405682503928637693975881757","date":"2025-10-30T15:21:34+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvitedReview","content":"","date":"2025-10-17T13:24:10+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvitedReview","content":"","date":"2025-05-26T17:48:43+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"144361755307672764362203079518749949794","date":"2025-05-05T10:46:50+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"319746652238626701530126032367645367317","date":"2025-04-26T15:16:03+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"193396613319198068838472561581844359246","date":"2025-04-23T13:36:37+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewersInvited","content":"","date":"2025-04-14T09:08:22+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorAssigned","content":"","date":"2025-04-08T18:02:08+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvited","content":"","date":"2025-03-24T10:45:07+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"checksComplete","content":"","date":"2025-03-23T22:00:19+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"submitted","content":"BMC Medical Education","date":"2025-03-23T21:59:12+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"bmc-medical-education","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"meed","sideBox":"Learn more about [BMC Medical Education](http://bmcmededuc.biomedcentral.com/)","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"https://www.editorialmanager.com/meed/default.aspx","title":"BMC Medical Education","twitterHandle":"BMC_series","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"em","reportingPortfolio":"BMC Series","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"2128a3f3-2c68-4add-8570-5d8cf4ce6edb","owner":[],"postedDate":"April 15th, 2025","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"published-in-journal","subjectAreas":[],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2026-03-16T16:01:50+00:00","versionOfRecord":{"articleIdentity":"rs-6087526","link":"https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-026-08984-4","journal":{"identity":"bmc-medical-education","isVorOnly":false,"title":"BMC Medical Education"},"publishedOn":"2026-03-14 15:58:40","publishedOnDateReadable":"March 14th, 2026"},"versionCreatedAt":"2025-04-15 15:22:00","video":"","vorDoi":"10.1186/s12909-026-08984-4","vorDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-026-08984-4","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-6087526","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-6087526","identity":"rs-6087526","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"8U1c8b4HqxoKbykW_rLl7","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}